


■■W 















n9K'' ,.''-lllli iBhS. 



f^'m 


















,^f\h^h 



fi^nH'r^^'^f^ 



^t^M^, 



^^"^A-OM' 



-^r.^::^*;;^ 
-^>^^^^^ 









>r'^^rC>- 






:-:^^"A^.^.p^?^C^^^*^|?i 



,^.^^^' 









.r^'^ r^' _ j^ -^' 






^Ajrin 






:4^f^^^^ 



^km 



.i^':f:\. 



fm 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/italywarof185900marg 




Jfai/i.^ ^ K^cLJiaLiioji . 



ITALY 



AND 



THE WAR OF 1859. 

WITH BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF 

SOVEREIGNS, STATESMEN, AND MILITARY COMMANDERS ; 

DESCRIPTION AND STATISTICS OF THE COUNTRY; 

CAUSES OF THE WAR, &c. 

BY JULIE DE MAEGUEEITTES, 

Author of "The Ins and Outs op Paeis," "The Match Gikl," 
" Pakisian Pickings," etc. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
BY Dr. R. SHELTON MACKENZIE 

"WITH MAP AND PORTRAITS. 





PHILADELPHIA: 

GEO, G. EVANS, PUBLISHER, 
NO. 439 CHESTNUT STREET. 

1859. 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, iu the year 18o9, hy 

G. G. EVANS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania. 



STEBEOTYPED AND PRINTED BY RINGWALT & CO. 
34 SOUTH THIRD STREET. 






b^ 






TO MY FATHER, 

A. B. GRANVILLE, M.D., F.R.S., 

OF THE COUNTRY OP HIS BIRTH AND OP THE STRUGGLE POR FREEDOM, 

THAT FREEDOM FOR WHICH IN EARLY DAYS HE SUFFERED, 

AND WHICH IN MATURER YEARS HE AIDED BY 

HIS INFLUENCE AND INTELLECT, 

is inscribed by his daughter, 

Julie de Marguerittes. 

PmiADELPHiA, JPNH 25, 1859, 



INTRODUCTION. 



BY DR. R. SHELTON MACKENZIE. 



With a strong faith in the wisdom of old proverbs, I am 
confident that, as regards the volume which is here laid at 
the feet of the public, the adage, " Good wine needs no 
bush," might be quoted, to show that Italy and the War 
OF 1859 needs no introduction. Yet I cannot restrain 
from expressing my opinion that such a book is desirable, 
and will be useful, if not necessary, at this crisis, when 
the fairest portion of Europe appears likely to regain her 
nationality, when Napoleon III. is heading French armies 
upon the battle-fields upon which his illustrious uncle 
achieved his first renown, and where Austria, so long tho 
heartless and cruel oppressor of the Italians, has already 
sustained many defeats, and appears on the eve of expul- 
sion from Lombardy and Venice. 

Madame de Marguerittes, the author of this book, 
well known on account of the ease, grace, and spirit of her 



vi INTRODUCTION. 

writings, and her intimate acquaintance — by residence — 
with the countries whose armies are now battling for or 
against Italian Independence, compliments me by a desire 
that, in consequence of my presumed familiarity with 
foreign lands and foreign politics, I should officiate as 
Master of the Ceremonies, and introduce her, in her new, 
and somewhat difficult position, as historian, politician, 
statistician, and biographer. 

Her design was to describe Italy in general, as well as 
each distinct Sovereignty and State ; to show the extent, 
resources, power, and political situation of each ; to de- 
scribe the leading members of each royal or reigning 
family ; to point out the relative bearing of every State, 
each to each, and also each to Sardinia, France, and Aus- 
tria, the combatants in the battle strife ; to represent, with 
sufficient fullness and fairness, the military and financial 
condition, as well as the social and moral standing of each 
people ; to describe cities and scenery in which she resided, 
or through which she had travelled ; to state the causes, 
progress, and probable results of the War ; and to give 
personal sketches, descriptions, and anecdotes of the lead- 
ing personages — sovereigns, statesmen, and command- 
ers — with many of whom, in other days and scenes far 
distant from this country, she had been more or less 
acquainted. Undoubtedly, this lady's opportunities of 



INTRODUCTION. vii 

acquiring tlie information necessary to produce such a 
book as tMs were neither few nor far between. Besides, 
having observed closely, and remembered well and much, 
she has read a great deal, and has " combined her infor- 
mation," to use the words of the immortal Mr. Potts. 

The result has been an agreeable volume, in which, 
while a great deal of solid information is given, to satisfy 
the minds of the more exact and exacting readers, will 
also be largely found personal sketches and anecdotes, 
recollections and on dits, which are always acceptable, and 
particularly in this country, where there is a prevailing 
curiosity — an heirloom from Eve, I presume — to learn 
everything about every body. Whoever expects Italy 
AND THE War of 1859 to be, from its subject, essentially 
a heavy book, will be greatly and pleasantly disappointed. 
It touches, lightly and gracefully, upon a variety of sub- 
jects, and enters searchingly and minutely enough into 
many more, all collateral to the principal theme of the 
work. 

Although necessarily written ^jvith great rapidity, the 
following pages rarely exhibit traces of haste. Indeed, I 
can bear personal testimony to the industry as well as the 
ability with which the book was written, and the author's 
scrupulous anxiety to be accurate upon all matters of fact. 



Viii INTRODUCTION. 

The statistics of different States, here given, will be 
found full and accurate, and brought down from the latest 
published data. 

To enhance the interest of the book, portraits of the 
principal Rulers now engaged in the War, have been in- 
troduced. Also, for the purpose of reference, a map, on 
which the course of the belligerents can readily be traced, 
and by which the boundaries, comparative extent, and 
bearings of each Italian State can readily be ascertained. 

Neither Author nor Publisher have neglected anything 
which appeared likely to add to the value or interest of 
the work. At all events, whatever the issue, the honest 
and earnest endeavor has been to deserve success. 

R. S. M. 

Philadelphia, July 2, 1859. 






i 




?j^\\ 



r 






■-^^^ 



CON-TENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Former Position of Italy — The Past and Present of Sardinia — 
Origin of the House of Savoy — Humbert, the First Count — His- 
tory of Acquisitions — Piedmont — Assumption of the Title of 
King of Jerusalem — On what based — Emanuel Filibert — Genoa 
— Revolt in 1849 — General Delia Marmora — The Island of Sar- 
dinia — Geographical Boundaries of the Kingdom — Area — Popu- 
lation — Lakes — Anecdote of Napoleon I. — Rivers — Climate — 
Fertility — Revenue — Army — Navy — Institution of Royalty — 
When and how — The Spanish Succession — The Quadruple Alli- 
ance. . . . . . . . .13 



CHAPTER II. 

Victor Emanuel I. — Abdicates — Carlo Felice succeeds — Charles 
Albert — Prince of Carignan — Education of Charles Albert — 
Ascends the Throne — Lombardy revolts — Charles Albert at 
Milan — Defeat at Rivoli — Shameful Retreat — Tuscan Volunteers 
— Montanelli — Novara — Tragic Scene — Abdication — Retires to 
Oporto and dies — Victor Emanuel and his Father — Mental 
Characteristics of Victor Emanuel — His Habits — Dislike to the 
Clergy — Attachment to the Dogmas of the Catholic Faith — His 
Court — His Queen and her Mother — Intrigue of the Latter with 
Marchese d'Adda — Death of the Queen — Her Children — Death 
of Victor Emanuel's Brother and Mother — His Personal Appear- 
ance. - . ... ... 24 

1 



2' CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

Lombardy — Early Invasions — Rivalry between France and Austria 
concerning its Possession — Title to it discussed — Royal Mar- 
riages of the Bourbons and Hapsburgs — EflFect of Alliances with 
Austria upon France — Austrian Treachery to Napoleon — Treaty 
of Utrecht and Others — Treaty of 1815 — Anecdote of Sir Robert 
Wilson and Francis I. concerning Lombardy — Policy of his Suc- 
cessors concerning it — Geography of Lombardy — Its Provinces 
— Number of Square Miles — Population — Chief City, Milan — 
Its Rivers, Lakes, System of Irrigation — Rail Roads — Productive 
Powers — General Description thereof — Manufactures — Austrian 
Army during Peace — Revenue and Taxation. . . .33 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Royal Family of Austria — Francis Joseph, Present Emperor — 
His Ancestry — His Wife Elizabeth — Abdication of his Uncle — 
Refusal of his Father to accept — The Archduchess Sophia — His 
Uncle Ferdinand — Vienna and the Revolution — Intellectual Ca- 
pacity of Sophia — Anecdote of Franz Josef relative to the Acces- 
sion — Count Schwartzenburg — Count Buol — Personal Appearance 
of the Emperor — Raab — General Schlick — Order of St. George 
— Archduke Maximilian — His Wife — Eugene Beauharnais — His 
noble Refusal — Count Gyulai — His past History — Anecdote of 
Radetzky — The Archdukes Stephen and John — Description and 
History of the Iron Crown — Anecdote concerning it during the 
Present War. . . . . . .40 



CHAPTER V. 

Venice — Origin of Venice — First Doge — Henri Dandolo — Gradenigo 
— Change of Government — Hereditary Aristocracy — Acquisition 
of Brescia, Bergamo, Padua — The League of Cambray — Queen 
of the Adriatic — A Spanish Bride and Venetian Admiral — The 



CONTENTS. 

Turks — Defeat of the Ottomans — Morosini — Loss of Candia — 
Takes the Morea — Decline of the Republic — Discovery of the 
Cape of Good Hope — Peace of Passarovitz — Neutrality of Venice 

— Submits to the French — Restored to Austria by the Treaty of 
Vienna — Reminiscences of Venice — Rome and Venice — Piazza di 
St. Marco — Body of St. Mark — Curious Mode of ti'ansporting it 
from Alexandria — Patron Saint of Venice — What became of it — 
Disturbances of 1848 — Daniele Manini — Nicolo Tommaseo — The 
Italian Legions defeat Austria — Viva Venezia — Viva Italia — 
Venice declares her Freedom — Manini Dictator — Peace — Desire 
for War — Six Volunteers — Surrender to Austi'ia — Death of Manini 

— His Son — Geographical Boundaries of Venice — Population 
Territory — Taxation-:^ Venice and its Commerce. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Origin of the War — Motives of France, Austria, and Sardinia — 
The Manifestos of Francis Joseph, Victor Emanuel and Louis Na- 
poleon. . . . . . . . .59 



CHAPTER VII. 

Louis Napoleon — The Self-deception of the World Relative to his 
Talents — Early Career given to elucidate the Causes of the World's 
Ignorance of his Abilities — His Birth and Birth-place — Decree 
of Banishment — His Mother, Hortense Beauharnais — Her Re- 
treat at Lake Geneva — Description of it — His Teachers and Edu- 
cation — The Attention of his Mother to these things — His Early 
Character — Augsburg — Arenburg — His Republicanism — Effects 
of Mountain Scenery upon his Mind — His Brother Napoleon — 
Reconciliation of Louis and Hortense — Conspiracy of the Broth- 
ers relative to Italy — They join the Romagnian Insurrection — 
Appointed to the Supreme Command — Resign it — The Bolognese, 
to flatter Louis Philippe, compel them to retire to Forli — Death 

1* 



CONTENTS. 

of Napoleon — Supposed Criminality of Louis Napoleon a gross 
Error — Fever at Ancona — Ruse of his Mother to conceal him 
from the Austrians — Escape to England — Offer of Talleyrand — 
Return to Switzerland — Becomes an Author — His Intercourse 
"with leading Men — His Attempt at Strasburg — Louis Philippe's 
Knowledge of the Plot — Failure — Shipped to the United States 

— Anecdote of Joseph Bonaparte — Correspondence with his 
Mother — Affianced to Mathilde — Conduct in the United States — 
Love to his Mother — Reverence for her Memory — National Air 
of France — Driven from Switzerland — Goes to England — Recep- 
tion in London — Count D'Orsay — Lord Eglintoun's Tournament 

— Impression he made on great Ladies — Faculty for Child's Play 

— Financial Embarrassments — Boulogne Expedition — Ham — 
His Escape — Return to London — His Friends — His Political 
Convictions — Manner of living in London — Literary Work — 
Death of Louis, Ex-King of Holland — The Revolution of 1848 — 
Louis Napoleon Special Constable — Proposed as Deputy to the 
National Assembly — Elected by four Departments — Scene in 
National Assembly — Re-elected — First Speech in National As- 
sembly — Election for Presidency — Conduct during Election — 
Elected President — Inauguration — Rebillot — General Petit. . 66 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Louis Napoleon as President — The Difficulties of his Position — 
How he quelled the Insurrectionary Spirit in Paris — Violations 
of the Constitution — Contest with the National Assembly — Leon 
Fauchet — National Assembly Dissolved — Its Successor — Repub- 
licanism in Paris in 1851 — Bourbons and Orleanists — President 
vs. the Assembly — St. Arnaud — Presidential Proclamation — 
Meeting of the National Assembly — Its Dispersion — Oudinot — 
— Berryer — The Coup d' Etat — Louis Napoleon's Election to the 
Presidency for Ten Years — Elevation to the Empire — His Mar- 
riage — Carola Wasa of Sweden — Alliance with England — War 
with Russia — The Empire — Attempts at Assassination — Pianori 
and Orsini. . . . • . • • .88 



CONTENTS. 5 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Family of Napoleon III. — The Empress Eugenie — Her Ancestry 
and Birth — Her Personal Charms — Peculiar Traits of Character 
— Unblemished Reputation — Her Courage — Prince Jerome, her 
Confidential Counsellor — His Marriage with Miss Patterson — 
His Son — His Grandson — Divorce — Princess Fredrika Caroline 
of Wurtemburg — Elevation to the Throne of Westphalia — Obtains 
Money from the Jews — Quarrel with Napoleon — Abandons his 
Kingdom — Waterloo — Napoleon's Exile — The Father-in-law of 
Jerome — Title of Prince Montfert — Residence in Florence — In 
Paris — Marshal of France — Prince Royal — President of the 
Council of Regency — Prince Napoleon — His Birth — Education — 
Visit to Paris — Member of the National Assembly — Quarrel 
with Louis Napoleon — Ambassador to Madrid — Dismissal — 
Senator — Major — General in Crimea — Attack upon the Plan o^ 
the War— Expedition to the Polar Seas — His Villa — Unfitness 
for Military Affairs — Appointment to Algiers — His Marriage — 
The Princess Mathilde — Her Birth — Character in Early Life — 
Af&ancedto the Present Emperor — Her Marriage — Prince Demi- 
dofi" — Separation — Presides at the Court of Louis Napoleon — 
Victor Emanuel's Passion — Her Residence — Sons of Lucien and 
Joseph — Lucien Bonaparte — Pierre Bonaparte — Service under 
Santander — Character — Desertion — Degradation — Present Resi- 
dence — Joachim Murat — His Character — Aspirations to the 
Throne of Naples— Alboni — The Son of Joachim Murat. . 98 



CHAPTER X. 

Count Baraguay d'Hilliers — Commanding Officer under Napoleon — 
Birth — Education— First Military Service — Military Exploits — 
Political Opinions — Character — Count Randon — General March- 
and and Napoleon I. — Algiers — Military Talents and Character 
— General Adolphe Neil — Brilliant Career — Character — General 
Canrobert — Constantine and African Campaign — Aid-de-Camp 
to the Emperor — Canrobert and St. Arnaud — Prince Napoleon — 



CONTENTS. 

The Crimea — His Character and Capacity — M'Mahon — Origin — 
Constantine — The Kedan — Character and Capacity — Marshal 
Vaillant — Birth — Exploits — Services in Algiers — E.oine — Char- 
acter and Capacity — Pelissier — Birth — Exploits — Algiers — 
Crimea — Character and Capacity — General Forey — Algiers — 
Crimea — Career — Capacity. ..... Ill 



CHAPTER XL 

The Sardinian Generals — Garibaldi — Serves in the Sardinian Ma- 
rine — Bey of Tunis — Republic of Uruguay — Rio Grande — The 
Italian Legion — Revolutionary Party in Italy — Career in North- 
ern Italy — Defence of Rome — Defeats the Neapolitans — Fall of 
Rome — Escapes from the Austrians — Returns to America — Goes 
back to Genoa — Commands a Merchantman — Present Position — 
His Character — General Ulloa — His Birth and Education — His 
Services in 1848 — His Present Position — Genei'al Alphonse Delia 
Marmora — His Education — Plans of Military Reform — His 
First Services — His Rapid Promotion — Minister of War— Reduces 
Genoa — Reorganization of the Army — Services in the Crimea — 
Lord Hardwicke's Opinion of him — Foreign Honors — His Elder 
Brother — Present Position — General Durando — His Early Life — 
Commands the Roman Army — His Conduct — Anecdote of Pius 
IX. — His Desertion of General Ferrara — Defeated by the Aus- 
trians — Joins Charles Albert — Opinions — Present Position — 
Curious Description of the Organization of the Sardinian Army. 135 



CHAPTER XIL 

Austrian Generals — Baron Hess — Birth — Early Services — Rapid 
Promotion — Served under Radetzky — His Strategic Talents — 
Anecdote with the Elector of Hesse — With the Emperor — 
Probable Position he will assume in this War — General Benedek 
— His Services — Gallicia — Italy — His Qualities as a Soldier — 



CONTENTS. 



General Wimpffen — Count Stadion — Edmond Prince Schwartz- 
enburg — Prince Charles Frederic Schwartzenburg — Their Family 
— Prince Frederic Charles Leichtenstein — Prince Edward Leich- 
tenstein — General Zobel. ...,-. 150 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Sardinian Statesmen — Count Cavour — Position of his Family — 
Prince Borghese— Anecdote of Count Cavour's Father — Prince 
D'Carignan — Cavour's Travels — Return to Sardinia — Enters 
Politics — Attaches himself to the Liberal Party — Congress of 
Paris — Count d'Azeglio — His Character as an Artist — His Ser- 
vices to Sardinia — His Position in Italy — Ratazzi — Brofiferios — 
Valeric, Leader of the Liberal Party. .... 158 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Austrian Statesmen — Count Buol — Schauenstein — His Early Career 

— First Service at London — Rapid Rise in Rank — Attains the 
Premiership — Peace Congress — Retirement-^ Views of Domestic 
and Foreign Policy — His Talents — Count Rechberg — His Descent 

— Sketch of his Life — His Character and Proclivities — Count 
Hubner — Connection with the Royal Family — Embassy to Paris 

— Count Grunne — Military Talents — Present Position. . . 166 



CHAPTER XV. 

French Statesmen — Count Walewski — His Relationship to Napoleon 
— Friendship with the Duke of Orleans — Enters upon a Military 
Career — Failure in the Drama — Success as an Author — Rise in 
Diplomacy — Present Position — Count de Morny, reputed Half 
Brother of Louis Napoleon — Education — His Military Career — 
Beet Speculation — Share in the Coup d'Etat — Rapid Rise — 
Financial Speculations — His Appearance — Duke of Padua — His 



S CONTENTS. 

Traditional Sympathies — OflBce — Present Position — Persigny — 
Present Position — Early Poverty and Struggles — An Editor — 
Strange Changes in Politics — Introduction to Louis Napoleon — 
Their Connection — Position in the Republic and Empire — Mar- 
riage — Review of the Characters of de Morny, Walewski and 
Persigny. ........ 174 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Duchy of Modena — Boundaries — Population — Resources — Revenue 
— Army — Metropolis — Its Early History — Conquest by the 
French — Its Return to the Hapsburgs — Its Present Ruler — His 
Character — Mirandola Carrara — Present Position of the Duchy. . 185 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Duchy of Parma — Geography — Extent — Productions — Gov- 
ernment — Army — Revenue — Chief City — University and Students 
— History of its Early Rulers — How the Bourbons became its 
Sovereigns — Abdication of Duke Charles — His Early Life — 
Eccentricities — Baron Ward — Empress Mai-ia Louisa — Her Last 
years — Duke Charles III. — His Brutality — Louise de Bourbon 
The Revolution of 1859. . . . . . .190 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Grand Duchy of Tuscany — The Recent Revolution — Prince Napo- 
leon at Leghorn — His Proclamation — Extent of the Duchy — 
Population — Geography — Productions — Elba — Government — 

— Trade — Revenue — Army — The City of Florence — Its Palaces 

— Pitti — Medicis — How Tuscany came under the Influence of 
Austria — Leopold II. — 1848 — His Conduct, Then and Since — A 
Proclamation — City of Leghorn — Its Appearance — Pisa — Her 
Present Condition — Population. ..... 196 



CONTENTS. ^ 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The War — Events immediately preceding — Italian Disposition to 
Conspiracy — Mazzini — Remonstrances of the Western Powers — 
Declaration of the Emperor — Debate between Palmerston and 
D'Israeli — Austria and Sardinia Arming — Speech of Count Cavour 
— England's Interposition — Lord Cowley — Sketch of him — What 
Conditions Count Buol would accept — Russia proposes a Peace 
Congress — The Five Great Powers consent — Sudden Invasion of 
Sardinia by Austria — The French hasten to the Assistance of 
Victor Emanuel. . . .... 203 

CHAPTER XX. 

The French and Austrian Armies — Their Navies — French Prizes — 
The Zouaves — History of their Origin — Marshal Clauzel — The 
Duke of Orleans — The Appearance of the Zouave — Zouaves in 
Italy — Anecdotes — The Third Regiment — The Turcos — General 
Yussup — Turcos Encampment — Notice of General Bourbaki — 
The Croats — Their Character — Tyrolese Sharpshooters — Their 
Actions in Italy — How the French Soldier is Fed — Changes in 
the French Military Costumes. . . . . .211 

CHAPTER XXI. 

More Austrian and French Generals — The Staff of Napoleon — 
General Roguet — Duke de Montebello — His Wife and the Empress 

— His Brother — Edgar Ney — His Elder Brother — General Fleury 
— General Reille — Baron Tascher — Marquis de Cadore — M. de 
Bourgoing — Conneau — Larrey — The Army of the East — Course 
of Bavaria — General Schramm — General Rostolan — General St. 
Jean d'Angely — Distinguished Volunteers — The Prince de Rohan 

— Duke de Chartres — Feeling of the French People relative to 
the War — Father Lacordaire — His Discourses to the People — 
Counts Clam-Gallas and Schaaffgottsche — Marshals Castellane 
and Magnan. ....... 226 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Former Wars between Austria and France — Napoleon's Campaigns 
against Austria. ....... 241 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Papal States — Area — Population — Army — Revenue — Trade — 
Agriculture — Government — Rome — The Vatican — The Quirinal — 
St. Peters — San Marino — Pius VII. — Ravaroli — Consalvi — Leo 
XII.— The Sanfedesti— Revolt of 1831 —National Colors of Italy 
— Gregory XVI. — Gaetano — Lambruschini — l^ius IX. — His Re- 
forms — Ugo Basso — The Pope's Private History — Count Rossi — 
Revolution of 1848 — Flight of the Pope — Countess Spaur — 
Antonelli — Gasperone — Antonelli as Premier — Mamiani — The 
Administration of Antonelli since 1849 — Mazzini — His Early 
Life — Expulsion from Italy — The Bandiera and Moro — Sir James 
Graham — Mazzini's Part in the Revolution of 1848 — His Life 
Since — The Recent Manifesto. . . . . . 250 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Naples — Montanelli's Description of it — Boundaries — Population — 
Physical Features — Agriculture — Trade — Government — Army — 
Sicily — Etna — Early History of Sicily — City of Naples — Its 
Public Places — The Lazzaroni — The King's Palaces — San Carlos 
— How the Bourbons came to the Throne — Don Carlos — Ferdi- 
nand I. — His Queen — Acton — Ruffo — The King's Vacillation 
and Treachery — Francis I. — Caretto — Code — Ferdinand II. — 
Poerio — Francis II. and his Queen — General Filangieri. . 287 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The Franco-Russian Alliance — Manifesto of Gortschakoff — Win- 
dischgratz — England and Prussia — The Minor German Powers. 313 



CONTENTS. 11 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

March of the French Army to Piedmont — Their Numbers — Their 
Routes — Anecdotes of the Soldiers — Departure of the Imperial 
Guard from Paris, and Reception in Piedmont. . . . 317 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Napoleon's Departure for Italy — Greetings of the People — Recep- 
tion at Marseilles — Genoa — Enthusiasm of the Piedmontese — 
Ladies of Genoa and the Empress — Spirit of the People in Paris 
— The Marseillaise in Italy — The Late Battles — Beuret — Cialdini 
— Espinasse — Conclusion. ..... 322 

APPENDIX. 

Bulletins of the Battles — Battle of Montebello — How General 
Beuret was Killed — Count Gyulai's Official Report — Garibaldi's 
Descent on Lombardy — The Battle of Palestro — Additional De- 
tails — The Battle of Magenta — French Official Report — Austrian 
Account. .... . .... 341 



CHAPTER I. 

FORMER POSITION OF ITALY — THE PAST AND PRESENT OF SARDINIA 

ORIGIN OF THE HOUSE OF SAVOY — HUMBERT, THE FIRST COUNT — HIS- 
TORY OF ACQUISITIONS PIEDMONT ASSUMPTION OF THE TITLE OP 

KING OF JERUSALEM ON WHAT BASED EMANUEL FILIBERT GENOA 

REVOLT IN 1849 GENERAL DELLA MARMORA THE ISLAND OF SAR- 
DINIA GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES OF THE KINGDOM AREA POPU- 
LATION LAKES ANECDOTE OF NAPOLEON I. RIVERS CLIMATE — • 

FERTILITY REVENUE ARMY — NAVY INSTITUTION OF ROYALTY — ■ 

WHEN AND HOW — THE SPANISH SUCCESSION — THE QUADRUPLE ALLI- 
ANCE. 

Italy, from a very early period, has occupied a large space 
in history. When the Phrygians, Tyrians, and Greeks — 
the ancient filibusters of the Eastern Seas — roamed at 
will, they were attracted to her shores by the salubrity of 
her climate, the beauty of her skies, the fertility of her 
soil, and the abundance of her wealth. But it was not 
alone whilst sea-kings ravaged her soil or despoiled her 
people that she attracted the attention of the world. Her 
own sons in turn became the invaders of other lands ; called 
into existence the magnificent "mother of empires," con- 
quered the world, and brought home the spolia opima of 
nations to adorn her palaces and clothe her temples in 
gorgeous splendor. 

Through the long line of warriors and Caesars, the 
poison of extravagance and corruption was slowly enter- 

13 



14 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

ing the veins of the great Roman Empire, until it wrought 
exhaustion and decline. From its grave arose a new des- 
potism — that of the Papal Hierarchy — under which, 
though the Arts have flourished, Freedom has not revived. 

The medieval times witnessed short intermittent resur- 
rections of the old Roman spirit of endurance, of firmness, 
of fiery energy and generous aspirations. Venice, Genoa, 
Milan, Florence, and other sovereign municipalities, strove 
to eliminate the cultivation of liberalism. At one time 
even Rome itself, under the lead of Rienzi, seemed to see 
a return to the days of her pristine power. But these 
efforts seem to have been irregular and spasmodic, and 
now, as for a long time past, pontifical, kingly, or foreign 
rule, presses Italy with the worst and deadliest forms of 
personal oppression and political slavery: — to use the 
striking phraseology of another, "they have produced 
universal terror and desolation, and call it a return to 
peace and social order." 

One little kingdom in North- Western Italy alone forms 
an exception to this dominating despotism. That kingdom 
is Sardinia. Bound to Austria by many ties of kindred, 
and largely bordered by her territory, Sardinia has had 
the courage to forget the traditions of the past, ignore her 
family connexion with the House of Hapsburg, and em- 
brace free constitutional government, with fervor and 
energy. Pursuing the last ten years a persistent and de- 
voted course of devotion to liberal principles, she has been 
a living protest against the Austrian system of misrule, a 
fiery reproach to her outrages upon humanity, and beacon- 
light of hope to all the aspiring, generous hearts of the 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 15 

Peninsula. By her bold course she has, in recent years, 
attained an unusually high position in European affairs. 
She has even been admitted to an equal voice and vote at 
the same continental council board with her haughty and 
hated rival, Austria. Within the last few months she has 
once more thrown down the gauntlet of defiance to this 
old and potent empire, and a second time entered the lists 
of combat with her. The stake is her existence as a Na- 
tionality : the prize if victorious — Italian redemption from 
the misrule of the Emperor Francis Joseph. Such a con- 
test challenges the attention, and claims for her the sym- 
pathies, of the civilized world. 

The past history of Sardinia is as curious and interest- 
ing as her present. The former receives its interest, how- 
ever, from sources widely differing in temper and tone from 
the latter. Her early annals are marked by the energy 
and vigor of her chiefs. A long line of illustrious diplo- 
mats, second to none in their skillful use of all the Machi- 
avelian subtleties which characterized the different inter- 
national policies of the Middle Ages ; stern strategetic 
warriors who have left names imperishable on the records 
of blood ; and rulers ever anxious to steal territory from 
their neighbors, and thereby consolidate their power and 
aggrandize the House of Savoy. 

To trace rapidly the origin of the Duchy of Savoy, the 
union consummated with Piedmont, the various other ac- 
cessions of territory, and the consolidation of all these 
into the kingdom of Sardinia is necessary here. 

The founder of the House of Savoy was Humbert of 
the White Hands. He lived about the beginning of the 



16 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Eleventh Century. He seems not to have been troubled 
with any nice scruples as to the rights of property. He 
had raised himself, as most men of those days did, by the 
strong hand, to a countship, marquisate, or some title of 
equivalent rank. Of his origin or descent little or nothing 
is known. The probability is that it was plebeian. Up 
to this time, Savoy had been governed by a number of 
bishops of the Church of Rome, each independent within 
his own diocese, and owing feudal allegiance to Conrad of 
Germany, surnamed the Salic. Whilst this Emperor was 
absent in Hungary, one of the Counts of Champagn, of 
a race notorious throughout centuries for turbulence and 
revolt, induced these pastoral lambs to rebel. Humbert 
of the White Hands fought the bishop of a mountain dis- 
trict of Savoy, called Maurienne, and conquered him. As 
a reward for this service, he received from the Teutonic 
Emperor the investiture of the county of Maurienne. 

The fourth Count of Savoy married fortunately, and 
obtained thereby the Marquisate of Susa and Duchy of 
Turin. When the dynasty got possession of Chamberry 
they made it for awhile their capital. Turin did not be- 
come the residence of the ducal family until 1484. 

Piedmont, one of the largest and finest provinces of the 
Sardinian Monarchy, lies South of Savoy. It descends 
from the tops of the lofty ranges known as the Cottian 
and Maritime Alps, and from the Appenines, in splendid 
terraces, to the fertile vallies which gently undulate until 
they are lost in the magnificent plains watered by the Po. 
It was slowly absorbed by Savoy, whose rulers were ever 
on the alert to "annex" territory from their neighbors. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1869 17 

This proclivity is certainly the best proof which could 
have been given of the truth of the theory of one who 
spent years in writing a huge folio to prove that the 
Princes of that family were of Saxon origin. Sometimes 
they lost what they had gained ; and then, after years of 
patient tigilance, recovered their spoil. Divided, as Pied- 
mont was, into small Duchies, Marquisates, Lordships and 
Republics, it easily fell a prey to a race of princes who 
were ever ready to buy, obtain territory by marriage, 
diplomacy or conquest. 

A great addition of power was thus gradually imparted 
to this dynasty. It obtained a larger population from 
which to recruit its soldiery, more revenue to carry on its 
wars, more respect abroad and more regard at home. It 
raised its Dukes to the position of a first-class power in 
Italy. Even the greater magnates, such as the Emperor, 
the King of France, and the other Continental Powers, 
began to court their alliance about the beginning of the 
Sixteenth Century. Indeed, Emanuel Philibert, who won 
the battle of St. Quentin in August, 1557, defeating the 
Constable Montmorenci and a French army, had his friend- 
ship and influence sought after by the leading potentates 
of Europe. His splendid civil and military abilities made 
him the ablest Italian ruler of his day. So well did he 
cultivate and promote the interests of his people that 
historians agree in declaring him the first King of Sardinia, 
though that title was not nominally conferred until given 
to Victor Amadeus, nearly two centuries later. 

Charles II. of Spain died November, 1700, and, to the 
surprise of every monarch in Europe save Louis XIV., he 

B 



18 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1869. 

left his dominions to the Duke of Anjou, second grandson 
of the French King. The death of a Bavarian prince, 
the destined heir of the crown of Spain, had preceded 
that of Charles II. France and Austria had then made 
a secret partition treaty, by which the Spanish crown was 
assigned to the Emperor's second son, Charles, Archduke 
of Austria. The King of Spain, made aware of this 
treaty, bequeathed his dominions, undivided, to the young 
Duke of Anjou, who was immediately proclaimed King, as 
Philip V. Thence arose what is known in history as "the 
War of the Spanish succession." Philip and his relative 
the Duke of Burgundy, then heir presumptive to the 
French crown, had married daughters of Victor Amadeus 
II. of Savoy. When the war broke out in 1701, Louis 
depended principally on the activity and skill of Victor 
Amadeus II. of Sardinia for the preservation of the Span- 
ish dominions in Italy. In a moment of bitterness and 
passion he broke with the Duke of Savoy ; the latter was 
thus forced into an alliance with the Imperialists. The 
war closed with the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713. This 
important treaty, so often named in European history, was 
greatly to the advantage of the Duke of Savoy, for Philip 
v., in the event of his own line failing, acknowledged 
Victor Amadeus II. as heir to the crown of Spain. Sicily 
was given to Victor, with the title of King, and he was 
crowned here, on Christmas Eve, 1713. Other Italian 
princes obtained territory out of the Spanish possessions 
in Italy. The Duke of Savoy, also, gained Montferrat, 
and wrested possession of the passes of the Alps from 
France. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 19 

The restless intrigues of Cardinal Alberoni, the Prime 
Minister of Spain, caused a renewal of the war, in 1717. 
In the midst of profound peace, Philip V. surprised and 
conquered the Island of Sardinia. Sicily changed hands 
for a short time in 1718, but was reconquered next year, 
and was finally reunited to Naples. The quadruple alli- 
ance (consisting of England, France, Austria and Victor 
Amadous) opposed and defeated Spain. Victor Amadous, 
Duke of Savoy, sensible of his inability to retain so distant 
a satrapy as Sicily, exchanged it for the Island of Sar- 
dinia in 1719, when the war of the Quadruple Alliance 
closed, and the political map of Italy was entirely recast. 
From this last acquisition, Victor Amadous was formally 
recognized, from 1720, as King of Sardinia. Like many 
of his ancestors, he was so vain as to claim the empty 
title of King of Jerusalem and Cyprus, which empty title 
is still retained by his reigning descendant. This claim 
is based upon the marriage of Charles I., Duke of Savoy, 
in 1482 with Bianca of Montferrat, last descendant of 
Guy de Lusignan, so well known, in the history of the 
Crusades, as the last King of Jerusalem. 

Genoa, surnamed "La Superba," from its magnificent 
location, from its proud palaces, fro^ its crescent-shaped 
and beautiful bay, now forms an integral part of Sardinia. 
Her history of a thousand years is brilliant with the glory 
of enterprise and achievement. But for more than two 
centuries preceding its transfer to this monarchy, it had 
served as a plaything for royalty and a shuttlecock for 
rival princes. Its people were no longer the conquerors of 
the Moor, the terror of the Turk, the scourges of the 



20 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Mediterranean, and the rivals of Venice. Perhaps amid 
their degeneracy, it was well for them that they found re- 
pose in the bosom of a growing and powerful state. Since 
its last annexation to Sardinia, in December, 1814, the 
Genoese have evinced by feverish fits and starts some of 
their ancient pride in their country's glory, and have 
sought to reestablish her independence. They lack the 
continuity of purpose and effort, necessary to achieve such 
a result. But it required the presence of a large army 
under Delia Marmora to reduce the city to obedience in 
1849, after the defeat of Charles Albert by the Austrians. 
Since that time Genoa has cheerfully submitted to Sardin- 
ian rule. 

Piedmont and Savoy and Genoa with the Island of 
Sardinia, to which the royal family retired after the battle 
of Marengo, and where they remained until 1814, constitute 
all the great provinces of the kingdom of Sardinia. There 
are some minor districts, such as the County of Nice, which 
surrounds the little Lordship, or rather Princedom of Mo- 
naco, and the Duchy of Montferrat, once a constituent part 
of the Duchy of Milan. 

The Continental portion of the Kingdom is surrounded 
by Switzerland on the North, Switzerland, Lombardy, 
Parma and Tuscany on the East ; it has the Mediterranean 
on the South and France on the West. Its greatest width 
is two hundred and one miles, and its greatest length, two 
hundred and forty-five miles. For administrative purposes 
it is divided into eleven portions, and sub-divided into thirty 
provinces. The total area of the mainland provinces is 
18,884 miles, and its population 4,537,580. The area of 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 21 

the Island from whicli the Monarchy takes its name is 
9,235, and its population 552,685. These estimates of 
population are taken from the census of 1852. It is prob- 
able that the population has increased about five per cent., 
if not more, upon the totality since that time, or within 
seven years. 

The principal lakes touching the territory of the Con- 
tinental States are Geneva and Lago Maggiore, though 
neither of them are properly denominated Sardinian. Of 
the beauty of either it is almost useless to speak. It has 
been celebrated in history, in song, and painting. Apropos 
of Lago Maggiore, it is said that Bonaparte and his staff 
dined on Isola Bella, the self-created Paradise of Prince 
Barromeo, the most lovely and enchanting of all the islands 
that seem to float upon its bosom, a few days before the 
battle of Marengo. This hero, impatient of forms and 
chafing with activity, rose between the courses, and wan- 
dering to a neighboring tree inscribed upon the bark 
^'Victory." But one letter of this word remains, the 
capital "V." Will Napoleon III., be able to reinscribe 
the remainder? 

The principal rivers are the Sesia, the Dora Baltea 
and the Lanaro. The Ticino is the outlet of Lago Mag- 
giore, and until it disembogues itself into the Po, forms 
through its course the dividing line between Sardinia and 
Lombardy. All these rivers are shallow and can scarcely 
be called navigable. 

The climate of these provinces varies from eternal frost 
and glaciers to perpetual summer and almost tropical lux- 
uriance. Savoy is not so productive as Piedmont. The 



22 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

latter province is perhaps the most fecundant in Italy. 
Its fertility has been vastly increased by the system of 
artificial irrigation which so largely prevails there. Up- 
wards of 400,000 acres are subjected to this process of 
increasing their fertilization. 

The revenue of Sardinia, according to the latest esti- 
mates, approximates $30,000,000 per year. The expendi- 
tures exceed the receipts, because of the immense standing 
army which the King has been forced to keep up since 
1848. From the period of his accession until now, nothing 
but an apparent friendship has subsisted between him and 
Austria. Deadly hatred, thinly masked under the guise 
of courtesy, has rankled in the hearts of himself and 
Court and pervaded all ranks of his people. Hence the 
army has really been always upon a war footing. 

One authority estimates the army upon the peace estab- 
lishment at 48,000 men ; upon a war footing at 140,000. 
A more recent and apparently better-informed authority 
declares that the regular Sardinian army in the field did 
not exceed, upon the first of May of this year, 75,000. 
To this was to be added some 20,000 Volunteers or 
National Guards. The probable force of the Kingdom, 
all told, would, according to this estimate, be about 95,000 
men. 

The Navy of Sardinia consists of a number of small 
vessels, including a few steamers ; mounting in all about 
one thousand guns. 

With such an army and navy, and with only the extent 
of resources indicated, Sardinia would enter into a single- 
handed contest with Austria, without the shadow of a hope 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 23 

of ultimate success. Victor Emanuel profited by the sad 
experience of his father and wisely declined to enter upon 
the combat, without the aid of a powerful ally, such as he 
has found in Louis Napoleon. 



CHAPTER II. 

VICTOR EMANUEL I. ^ — ABDICATES — CARLO FELICE SUCCEEDS — CHARLES 

ALBERT PRINCE OF CARIGNAN — EDUCATION OF CHARLES ALBERT 

ASCENDS THE THRONE LOMBARD Y REVOLTS CHARLES ALBERT AT 

MILAN DEFEAT AT RIVOLI — ^SHAMEFUL RETREAT TUSCAN VOLUN- 
TEERS MONTANELLI NOVARA TRAGIC SCENE ABDICATION RE- 
TIRES TO OPORTO AND DIES VICTOR EMANUEL AND HIS FATHER 

MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VICTOR EMANUEL HIS HABITS DIS- 
LIKE TO THE CLERGY ATTACHMENT TO THE DOGMAS OF THE CATHOLIC 

FAITH HIS COURT HIS QUEEN AND HER MOTHER INTRIGUE OF THE 

LATTER WITH MARCHESS d'aDDA DEATH OF THE QUEEN HER CHIL- 
DREN DEATH OF VICTOR EMANUEL's BROTHER AND MOTHER HIS 

PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 

Victor Emanuel II., the present King of Sardinia, was 
the son of Charles Albert. Victor Emanuel I., who abdi- 
cated in 1821 rather than accept the Constitution offered 
to him after the revolt in Turin in 1821, had four daughters, 
who were severally married to the King of Naples, the 
Duke of Lucca, the Duke of Tuscany, and the Duke of 
Modena. The heir of Victor Emanuel I. was his brother, 
Carlo Felice; but neither of these brothers having male 
heirs, Charles Albert, then Prince of Carignan, the repre- 
sentative of the younger branch of the House of Savoy, 
became heir presumptive of the crown. At the accession 
of Charles Albert to the throne in 1831, Victor Emanuel, 
his son, took the title of Duke of Savoy, that being the 
title conferred by custom and courtesy, on the eldest son 
24 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 25 

of the Kings of Sardinia. Charles Albert was educated 
at a Jesuit Seminary in Paris. The policy and education 
of the princes of Piedmont had remained ever the same, 
spite of circumstance and progress. The same narrow- 
minded and despotic principles which had influenced and 
destroyed the elder branch of the Bourbons had character- 
ized their rule. Charles Albert, educated like his father, 
by priests — and Jesuits at that — had not imbibed the 
germs of modern enlightenment nor of liberal principles. 
For more than seventeen years the traditions of his family 
and the Jesuitical tenets of his education, swayed Charles 
Albert, making him a bitter enemy and persecutor of liber- 
alism. Imprisonments, condemnations to exile and actual 
bloody executions mark the first years of his reign. It is 
difficult, in the sudden change which came over Charles 
Albert, and made him the champion and hope of Italian 
liberty, fully to decide whether he was inspired by fear or 
ambition. Certain it is, however, that in 1848, when all 
Europe was shaken by the great revolution of France, 
Charles Albert offered a liberal Constitution to his people. 
But, then, so did the King of Naples, the Dukes of Modena, 
Parma and Tuscany ; and how have they maintained them ? 
The Constitution of Charles Albert, though of no avail 
whilst the Austrians ruled in Italy, roused the hopes of the 
Lombards — ever ready to shake off the Austrian yoke, but 
never bold enough to attempt it without the support of 
some allied power. For years, ever since they had been 
returned to the Austrian rule, by the treaty of Vienna, 
the secret hopes of the Milanese had been fixed on France ; 
but France, through the reigns of three Kings, Louis 



28 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

XVIII., Charles X. and Louis Phillippe, had been too much 
engaged at home to think of sending an army over the 
Alps. Eagerly, therefore, they seized the hope held forth 
to them of an ally, separated from, their capital by less 
than one hundred miles. Insurrections broke out at every 
point, and at length the Milanese, by an heroic effort, 
rising en masse, compelled thirty thousand Austrians under 
the command of Radetzky, to retreat and to take shelter in 
the fortified city of Yerona. No sooner was it known that 
the revolution in Lombardy had been successful, than 
Charles Albert crossed the Ticino, and at the head of se- 
venty thousand men marched to Milan in aid of the Milan- 
ese and liberty. Scarcely had he arrived at Milan before 
he appeared to have forgotten the cause of his advent, and 
neglecting the Austrians still in Verona, to have set about 
intriguing to establish the fusion of the States of Italy 
and to obtain for himself the supremacy of Northern Italy. 
Meantime he was neglecting the great object — that of pre- 
venting the troops sent from Austria to the succor of 
Radetzky, from reaching him at Verona. By Charles 
Albert's neglect, a body of Tuscan volunteers who had 
rushed to the aid of the Milanese at the first news of the 
revolt, were cut to pieces by the Austrians, between Man- 
tua and Verona. Amongst these volunteers was Monta- 
nelli, a distinguished member of the University of Pisa, 
who, however, survived his wounds and is now known to 
the world as the translator of the tragedies of Racine and 
Corneille into Italian, now played by Madame Ristori. 
The King of Piedmont, however, still, with all his hesita- 
tions and blunders, maintained his hostile position towards 



ITALY AND THE WAE OP 1859. 27 

Austria, and having met with a defeat at Rivoli, he shut 
himself up in Milan, determined to defend it to the last. 
But whetlier he grew timid, or whether family ties which 
united han to the house of Austria began to assert their 
claims, or whether educational scruples overcame him, (for 
we must not forget that Charles Albert had been educated 
by the Jesuits,) or whether seeing he had no chance of the 
supreme sovereignty of Italy, he resolved to save his own 
kingdom, and so turned traitor, must remain in histo- 
rical doubt. Certain it is, that whilst openly defying Aus- 
tria he secretly negotiated with her, and though there were 
then fifty thousand men in the citadel of Milan, and that, 
too, when five months before the Milanese, without a single 
soldier, had conquered Radetzkyand the Austrians, Charles 
Albert ignominiously evacuated the place, abandoned it to 
the Austrian general, and withdrew within the limits of 
his own territory. This conduct, whatever may have been 
its motive, lays Charles Albert open to the accusation of 
treachery. He felt it himself, he sunk under the blow, 
and in the midst of the execrations and contempt of his 
people he abdicated in favor of his son Victor Emanuel, 
the present king. The moment of his avowal of his pur- 
pose to abdicate forms one of those dramatic episodes that 
poetry so often seeks to invent for the great catastrophies 
of history. It took place on the battle field of Novara. 
Charles Albert felt at this battle more unfortunate than 
Francis I., who, at the battle of Pavia, declared that "all 
was lost but honor," — he had lost all and honor with it. 
During this disastrous day, rendered fatal by the misman- 
agement of Krzanowsky, as the day of Waterloo was by 



28 ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 

the treachery or misconception of Groucny, Charles Albert, 
in the thickest of the fight, evidently sought in an heroic 
death a shelter from the accusations of posterity, but though 
many fell around him, there was no ball nor sword for him. 
Being, then, still forced to endure life, towards nightfall, 
when the Piedmontese were obliged to retreat, resting on 
General Durando's arm, surrounded by his staff, and in the 
presence of his son, he exclaimed, ''My resolution is taken 
— from this hour I am no longer King. Your King is now 
Victor Emanuel." After the necessary formalities at 
Turin in confirmation of his resolution, the king, bent with 
premature age, sorrow, despair, perhaps remorse, retired 
to Oporto, where he died of what is called a broken heart, 
his mind having preyed on his constitution and brought on 
early death. 

Victor Emanuel has been accused of coldness towards 
his father. Many have gone further and taxed him with 
treachery at the battle of Novara, in order to force affairs 
into the train they ultimately took. Nothing, however, 
justifies such suspicions. The Savoyards are renowned 
for simplicity, honesty and truth. The Piedmontese bear 
in Italy a high reputation for dissimulation and wiliness. 
Yet Victor Emanuel, whilst he affects to speak Piedmon-- 
tese exclusively, appears to deserve, in every way, the 
soubriquet conferred on him of il re galantuomo, "the 
King of his word," — a contrast with the name bestowed 
on his father, who was nicknamed "Tentenna," (King 
See-Saw.) 

His tastes all indicate an open, manly spirit. Although 
educated by priests, Victor Emanuel has no pretensions to 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 29 

learning nor scholarsliip. He prefers the "tented field" 
to the cabinet, field sports to literature or the arts. He 
is not a superstitious or bigoted monarch. Contrary to the 
laws established in Italy, he tolerates the free exercise of 
the Yandois Protestant religion and the establishment of 
Protestant Temples, even in his Capital. He is a Catholic, 
believing steadfastly in the dogmas, but having no faith 
in the Church and Priesthood. All his actions tend to 
diminish clerical revenue and clerical power. Still, there 
is neither in the king nor the people any disposition to 
swerve from the Roman Catholic faith; the aim of both 
is merely to attack and destroy the temporal power. 
Even with the liberty of the Press accorded by Victor 
Emanuel, all attacks upon the dogma, all Voltairienne 
attempts at skepticism or ridicule, in matters of religious 
faith, would be deemed sacrilege and not tolerated. The 
great problem to be solved, which will come after the 
political freedom of Italy shall be obtained, will be how to 
conciliate it with the overbearing despotism and temporal 
power of the Church of Rome. Victor Emanuel, as a 
King, has all the elements of popularity and is beyond all 
doubt exceedingly beloved by his people. His very want 
of courtly refinement, his dislike of the trammels of 
etiquette, his undeniable bravery, all tend to make him 
the hero of the people. He is fond of going about under 
various disguises, alone in the streets and taverns of Turin 
and studiously aff*ects always to speak the Piedmontese 
dialect, giving an Italian rather than a French atmosphere 
to his com't, though in his parliament the Deputies from 
Savoy and Nice, discourse in the French language. 



30 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Victor Emanuel married in 1842, Maria Adelaide, 
daughter of the Arch-Duke Regnier, then Viceroy of 
Italy. This Princess was a rare example of excellence, 
intelligence, high principle, and amiability. Brought up 
at Milan, in the seclusion of her father's court, under the 
auspices of her mother, a Princess Carignan and a woman 
of cultivated mind and generous instincts, she may be said 
to have been utterly unfit for royalty, which condemned 
her to circumscribed inactivity. Her mother, a woman of 
sorrows, which were no mystery to the Milanese, and which 
without tarnishing her reputation, had involved one of the 
noblest patrician famlies in disgrace and suffering, rarely 
passed the palace gate. 

Amongst the Italian nobles who had accepted office at 
the vice-regal court, was the Marchese D'Adda, appointed 
chamberlain to the Vice-Queen. The Grand Duke of Aus- 
tria, Regnier, Viceroy of Italy, though a- man of excellent 
instincts, and possessed of a kind heart and some talent, 
was neither amiable, attractive, or agreable. 

The Princess Carignan, his wife, was an accomplished, 
young and handsome woman, but withal a woman of high 
principle. It was said, that she confessed her passion for 
the Marchese D'Adda to her husband, and that in con- 
sequence of this confession, which should have inspired 
none but generous feelings, the Marchese was arrested and 
secretly imprisoned. As for the Vice-Queen, she retired 
utterly from all courtly ceremonies, neither appeared at 
fetes nor theatres ; dedicating herself to her children and 
to religious observances. Years passed on. The Arch- 
Duchess was in the last stage of consumption, when all at 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 31 

once, the Marcliese D'Adda re-appeared at Milan. He 
had been liberated as he had been arrested, without any 
apparent cause, and summoned to Vienna, and courteously 
requested by the Emperor to consider that this episode of 
his life had not occurred. The Marchese, restored to his 
family (for he was a married man,) never returned to the 
Court, and retired judiciously, until after the death of the 
Arch-Duchess, to Piedmont. This was the Austrian way 
of settling a love affairS. 

On her two daughters the Arch-Duchess centered her 
affections and hopes. Maria Adelaide, the wife of Victor 
Emanuel, was perhaps over refined and sensitive ; and in 
the earlier days of her marriage suffered from the absence 
in her husband of those qualities of which she had the ex- 
cess. Still she obtained a great but gentle influence over 
him. He loved her with truth and devotion. She was the 
mother of five children : Clothilde, now in her seventeenth 
year and lately married to Prince Napoleon, the son of 
Jerome Bonaparte, and, at the beginning of the war, the 
Commander of the Fifth French Corps de Arme^ in Italy 
and heir presumptive to the throne of France, should there 
be a failure of direct male issue, — and of four younger 
ones. Her second child is Humbert, called after the 
founder of the dynasty. He is now fifteen years of age, 
and although so youthful, has accompanied his father to 
the seat of war. 

The death of Maria Adelaide much affected the King. 
He is said to have vowed to remain faithful to her memory, 
and will therefore, enter into no second marriage. Almost 
at the same time, the mother and brother of the King, Per- 



32 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1869. 

dinand, tlie Duke of Genoa, also died. Overwhelmed by 
all these domestic calamities, he remained in seclusion for 
several months, apparently losing all interest in the affairs 
of state. He was however too robust in health, and too 
vigorous of constitution, not to rally again. Much as he 
seems to enjoy the activity which his present life presents 
to him, his most intimate friends aver that he plunges into 
scenes where the display of the greatest energy is required, 
in order to escape from himself. 

Victor Emanuel is now in his thirty-sixth year, with a 
fine soldierly-looking presence, rotund and fair-haired. 
The Teutonic characteristics of his dynastic descent are 
developed rather than those of the Italian race. 

The King of Sardinia has created the Prince Eugene 
de Savoie, Lord Lieutenant of the Kingdom. Eugene de 
Savoie is a distant cousin of Victor Emanuel, being a 
prince of the younger branch of Savoy-Carignan, and was 
entitled by Charles Albert, by royal decree in 1834. He 
is besides, Commander in Chief of the Sardinian National 
Guards. He was born in 1816 and is unmarried. 



CHAPTER III. 

XOMBARDT — EARLY INVASIONS — BIVALRY BETWEEN FRANCE AND AUSTRIA 
CONCERNING ITS POSSESSION- — TITLE TO IT DISCUSSED ROYAL MAR- 
RIAGES OF THE BOURBONS AND HAPSBURGS EFFECT OP ALLIANCES 

WITH AUSTRIA UPON FRANCE AUSTRIAN TREACHERY TO NAPOLEON 

TREATY OF UTRECHT AND OTHERS TREATY OF 1815 ANECDOTE OP 

SIR ROBERT WILSON AND FRANCIS I. CONCERNING LOMBARDY POLICY 

OF HIS SUCCESSORS CONCERNING IT GEOGRAPHY OF LOMBARDY ITS 

PROVINCES NUMBER Of SQUARE MILES POPULATION CHIEF CITY, 

MILAN ITS RIVERS, LAKES, SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION RAIL ROADS — - 

PRODUCTIVE POWERS GENERAL DESCRIPTION THEREOF MANUFAC- 
TURES — AUSTRIAN ARMY DURING PEACE — REVENUE AND TAXATION. 

The fair and fertile district of country known as Lom- 
bardy, has, for more than twenty centuries, been coveted 
by those living West and North of the Alps. Its rare 
fertility, genial climate and beautiful scenery, made it 
appear like an earthly paradise, a perfect garden of Hes- 
perides, to the rough, uncouth Uauls and long haired 
Teutons who were wont to issue, in great shoals, from the 
dense, dark forests of Northern and Western Europe. 
Erom the time that the capitol alone, in all Rome, re- 
mained unconquered, and Camillus rebuked Brennus for 
his insolence, and overthrew his forces, until Marius 
slaughtered holocausts of Cimbri; from its conquest by 
the Longobards until their power was destroyed by Pepin 
le Bref; from the invasion of Otho the Great down to the 
days of the First Napoleon, it has, century after century, 
33 C 



34 ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 

been a fief, in one form or the other, of the crowns of 
Germany or France. Each have alternately won and lost 
it. For brief periods it has been in the hands of native 
rulers and of the Spaniard ; but the law of its existence 
seems to have been a gravitation between those two power- 
ful monarchies. 

If repeated conquest and occupation can alone confer 
title, then both are possessed of admirable and indisputa- 
ble claims. Austria, however, as lineal successor to the 
rights of the Germanic empire, would seem to have the 
better title ; confirmed, as that title was, upon the recon- 
struction of the map of Europe, at Vienna, in 1815. That 
treaty, however, was forced upon France by the sword. 
May it not be the ultimate design of the present Emperor 
of the French to revive the claims of the First Empire to 
these Provinces ? 

The modern rivalry of France and Austria was deeply 
intensified from the time when Charles YIII. of France 
and Maximilian, son of Frederick III., Emperor of Ger- 
many, became rival candidates for the hand of Mary of 
Burgundy. Philip the First, of Castile, was' the ofi"spring 
of the Austro-Burgundian alliance. He was the father, 
by the mad Joanna of Castile, of Charles V. of Germany. 
The latter was the rival of Francis I. of France, for the 
Imperial crown. The consequence of his success over the 
French monarch was that series of long and bloody wars 
with which these competitors desolated Italy, and caused 
her rivers to run red with gore. 

Three times has the Austrian royal family given queens 
to France — Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII., Marie 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 35 

Antoinette of Louis XVI., and Maria Louisa of the Great 
Napoleon. But in neither case has such an alliance suf- 
ficed to allay the national hatred of the French to the 
House of Hapsburg, and in each case has such a union 
been most unpropitious, either for the royal partners or 
for the French na>tion. There has been no cordial alliance 
between them for more than a century, save that which 
they formed against the great Frederick of Prussia, and 
that was full of reverses and disasters to France. Five 
times did Austria, either in coalition or single-handed, 
attempt to overthrow the French Revolution and its first- 
born, the Empire. She deserted Napoleon, in the face of 
Europe, in 1813, and thus incurred, most deeply, the 
hatred of his family. Besides, as if to crown the disgrace 
of that family, allied to her by marriage, Austria assented 
to, if she did not propose to the Congress of Vienna, that 
celebrated treaty enactment by which the family of Bona- 
parte were to be forever excluded from the throne of La 
helle France. The portion of the conduct of Austria which 
most galls and wounds the memory of Frenchmen is, that 
she furnished 30,000 of that army of occupation which 
held France in subjection for three years after the defeat 
of Waterloo. 

Lombardy, or at least that portion of it, known as the 
Milanese and Mantua, was retroceded to Germany by the 
Bourbons of Spain, at Utrecht, in 1713. Her title to this 
territory was confirmed by the general pacification of 
1735, and again by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in. 1748. 
It continued to be held by her until wrested from her by 
the victorious army of Napoleon the First. As before 



36 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

remarked, it returned to her when the repartition of the 
Italian provinces took place, in 1815. 

A singular anecdote is told about this return of Lom- 
bardy to Austria. Francis I., who first resigned the 
title of Emperor of Germany in 1802, and took that of 
Emperor of Austria, remarked to Sir Robert Wilson, 
British Commissioner at Vienna, that "he would not have 
an inch of Italian territory." This able and experienced 
monarch felt that the possession of Lombardy by Austria 
had been a drain upon the treasure and blood of his em- 
pire. There is no doubt that he was sincere in the utter- 
ance of this opinion. But the Congress forced it upon 
him, contrary to his will. Whatever may have been his 
ideas relative to this province, his successors have not 
sympathized with them, for they have shaped their policy 
toward universal dominion within the limits of the Penin- 
sula, with perhaps the single exception of the States of 
the Church. 

Lombardy is bounded on the North by the Tyrol and 
Switzerland, East by the Venetian Provinces of Austria, 
South by Modena, Parma and the Sardinian States, and 
on the West by Sardinia and Lago Maggiore. The Ticino 
divides it from the last-named State on the West, whilst 
the Po divides it from the Kingdom of Victor Emanuel 
and from the Duchy of Parma on the South. It embraces 
the Provinces of Sardinia, Pavia, Mantua, Milan, Lodi-e- 
Crema, Cremona, Como, Brescia and Bergamo. These 
contain an area of 8,313 square miles, and a population of 
2,725,740. These figures are taken from the most recent 
census. The chief city of Lombardy, in point of import- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 37 

ance and population, is Milan. There the Austrian Vice- 
roy resides and holds his semi-regal Court. The popula- 
tion of Milan was estimated differently by two authorities 
in 1846; one placing it as high as 189,380; another as 
low as 161,966. In this latter number was said to be in- 
cluded no less than 17,000 strangers. 

The rivers Mincio, Oglio, Adda, Lambro and Ticino, 
drain the Southern and Western portions of this Depart- 
ment of Lombardy and they all discharge themselves into 
the Po. Out of the East and North the Tagliamento, 
Brenta, Piave, Adige and Bacchiglione, flow into the 
Adriatic. 

Nearly all the large Lakes of Northern Italy are either 
wholly within its territories or touch its borders. The 
former class includes Gard, Iseo, Idro and Como, so im- 
mortalized in prose and verse ; the latter, Lugano and 
Maggiore. 

The same system of irrigation which prevails in Pied- 
mont prevails here. The length of the great canals used for 
this purpose, as well as for navigation, together with their 
principal lateral branches is estimated at nearly if not 
quite five thousand miles. 

Kailroads have, to some extent, been introduced into 
both Lombardy and Sardinia; one of these ^'Chemins de 
fer'' already stretches itself from Milan to Como, another 
is completed part of the way from Mantua to Verona, a 
large city in the Venetian Department. 

The Provinces of this Department, have ever been cele- 
brated for their productive powers. During the forty 
years of languid peace which followed the conclusion of 



38 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, ihej recovered most wonder- 
fully from the desolation of nearly two centuries ; so that 
when the French lances gleamed in the Alpine passes, 
upon their first invasion of Italy, after the Revolution of 
1789 broke out, they looked down upon a country of 
marvellous beauty and richness. It has enjoyed peace 
since 1815, broken only by the short revolutionary episode 
of 1848. The whole surface of the country waves with 
fields of Indian maize, wheat, rice, the vine, flax and 
hemp. Everywhere, the Lombardy poplar, mulberry and 
peach tree abound. The roads are magnificent and are 
shaded on each side with rows of beautiful trees. 

The manufactures are varied and large. The richest 
manufacture is that of silk ; Europe to a vast extent is 
supplied by the Lombards with this article. The other 
chief exports are corn and cheese. 

The number of troops which have been kept in this 
country since the year 1848 by the Austrians, previous 
to the breaking out of the present war, has been variously 
estimated by various persons. Some have placed the 
number as low as 60,000, and others as high as 80,000. 
There seemes to be no accurate mode of determining this 
question, unless access could be had to the military rolls of 
Count Gyulai, or the archives of the Military Chancellerie, 
at Vienna. 

The amount of revenue which Austria has drawn from 
Lombardy, for many years back, is very great. The rate 
of taxation is appalling. A writer who has investigated 
the subject fully, declares that "the Austrian Treasury 
draws from Lombardy eighty millions of lire annually. If 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 89 

the whole empire were taxed per head at the Lombard rate, 
it would exceed a revenue of eleven hundred millions of 
lire. Instead of this, it had (in the year 1854) seven 
hundred thirty-six millions. If we look only to the direct 
tax upon lands, then, at the Lombard rate, the empire 
would have yielded four hundred millions, whereas in 
1854 it yielded two hundred and three millions." 

^'But it may be thought that the wealth of Lombardy 
redresses the balance. Well, in 1850, the agricultural 
products of that country, were stated at three hundred and 
sixty millions of lire : those of the whole empire, at three 
thousand, nine hundred and eighty-five millions. But 
Lombardy pays some thirty millions of land tax, out of 
two hundred and three millions, or more than a seventh, 
instead of about a thirteenth. If the real value of the 
Lombard crops be given, it raises from three hundred and 
sixty to four hundred and fifty millions ; but a similar 
rectification might, we apprehend, be applied to the rest 
of the empire." 

These statements are based upon publications made and 
sold in the Lombardo-Yenetian States. They exhibit a 
more wonderful disproportion between the amount of taxes 
levied upon this department and the balance of the empire, 
than any one not fully acquainted with the subject would 
have believed. It is no wonder that the Lombards are 
impatient of the Austrian yoke, and long for a deliverer. 

Very little, however, of this great revenue, ever finds 
its way into the imperial treasury at Vienna. The im- 
mense military and civil establishments which Austria is 
bound to support, in order to keep the Italians in subjection 
to her rule, almost wholly exhausts it. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE ROYAL FAMILY OF AUSTRIA — FRANCIS JOSEPH, PRESENT EMPEROR — 

HIS ANCESTRY HIS WIFE ELIZABETH ABDICATION OF HIS UNCLE 

REFUSAL OF HIS FATHER TO ACCEPT THE ARCHDUCHESS SOPHIA HIS 

UNCLE FERDINAND VIENNA AND THE REVOLUTION INTELLECTUAL 

CAPACITY OF SOPHIA — ANECDOTE OF FRANZ JOSEF RELATIVE TO THE 
ACCESSION — COUNT SCHWARZENBERG — COUNT BUOL — PERSONAL AP- 
PEARANCE OF THE EMPEROR RAAB GENERAL SCHLICK ORDER OP 

ST. GEORGE ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN HIS WIFE EUGENE BEAUIIAR- 

NAIS HIS NOBLE REFUSAL COUNT GYULAI HIS PAST HISTORY 

ANECDOTE OF RADETZKY THE ARCHDUKES STEPHEN AND JOHN DE- 
SCRIPTION AND HISTORY OF THE IRON CROWN ANECDOTE CONCERNING 

IT DURING THE PRESENT WAR. 

The present Emperor of Austria, Franz Josef, was born 
on the 18th of August, 1830. His father was the Arch- 
duke Charles, son of the Emperor Erancis L, who had 
four wives : the Archduke Charles being the son of his 
second marriage with Marie Therese, daughter of the King 
of the two Sicilies. In 1848 his brother, Ferdinand I., 
having abdicated, he, the Archduke Charles, became heir 
to the throne, but refusing to accept it, he made over his 
rights to his son, the present Emperor, Franz Josef, who 
on the 2d of December, 1848, was proclaimed Emperor of 
Austria. His mother is Sophie, (born in 1805,) daughter 
of Maximilian, King of Bavaria, twin sister to the Dow- 
ager Queen of Saxony, as well as sister of Louis of 
Bavaria, renowned for his love of Art, who abdicated the 
40 




^'Ul // CLix. _ foAeJLll . 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 41 

throne in Marcli, 1848, in consequence of the discontent 
occasioned by the exercise of power he had allowed to the 
notorious Lola Montez. Franz Josef was married in 
1854 to Elizabeth, daughter of the Duke of Bavaria, (a 
younger branch of the house of Bavaria, called Bavaria 
Birkenfeld,) who was born in 1837. 

The end of the long reign of Francis found the Austrian 
people, who had become enlightened, weary with the old 
narrow-minded policy of the former Emperors. They had, 
however, a personal love for Francis, which had maintained 
them in their allegiance. The weakness, almost amounting 
to imbecility of Ferdinand, and the continuation of the same 
restrictive measures, gave the discontented an excuse for 
revolt. Vienna fell into the power of the people, headed 
by the students, and though Jellachich and Windisch- 
gratz restored it to the Imperial power, some conces- 
sions were unavoidable, and a change of Sovereigns was 
imperative. Ferdinand and his wife, the Empress Mari- 
anne, (daughter of Victor Emanuel I. of Sardinia,) pious, 
good, inoffensive people, with very little intellect and 
without the slightest conception of the importance of their 
position, still believing implicitly in divine right, were 
easily persuaded to renounce the throne. The next heir 
was the Archduke Charles, a man to whom the education 
•and custody of the Duke de Riechstadt had been most 
especially confided. The Archduke Charles was not a man 
of brilliant talent, but of sound common sense, and totally 
without ambition. His wife, the Archduchess Sophie, 
however, possessed a capacity for intrigue, a shrewd intel- 
lect and an undaunted spirit. She was much in advance 



42 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of the arriere policy of the House of Hapsburg, and had 
tact enough to understand that the branch on ^'hich Aus- 
tria's new destinies were to bloom forth, must be the 
greenest and freshest possible. She, therefore, preferred 
being the mother rather than the wife of the Emperor, 
and advising her husband to follow his brother's example, 
the Imperial Crown devolved on her eldest son, Franz 
Josef, then in his nineteenth year. Accordingly the Arch- 
duchess, seeking her son, fell at his feet and was the first 
to salute him as ^' Mein Kaiser,'' "My Emperor." The 
boy, staggering under the glorious weight thus thrust upon 
him, is said to have hidden his face on his mother's 
shoulder, whilst in a voice of deep emotion he exclaimed, 
'' Meine jugen ist hem," ''My youth is over." 

On his accession, Franz Josef promised a free and con- 
stitutional government to his people ; and by the advice of 
Prince Schwarzenberg, he attacked and subdued the 
power of the aristocracy, making himself the head of the 
cabinet, and by this means propitiated the mass of the 
population. With the aid of new men, such as Bach and 
Von Bruck, he carried on a series of fiscal and commercial 
reforms. These reforms, however, applied only to Austria 
proper ; the conquered territories, including Italy of 
course, shared none of their ameliorations. Schwarzen- , 
berg having died suddenly in 1852, his place was supplied 
by Count Buol, who shared the counsels and possessed the 
confidence of the young Emperor for some years, until 
after the declaration of the present war, when he resigned. 

Franz Josef is in person tall, slight, dignified and grace- 
ful in his movements. The expression of his countenance 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 43 

is reflective, serious, almost sad, like one impressed with 
the responsibility of his position. He has proved that he 
possesses great personal bravery : at the taking of Raab, 
where the Emperor commanded in person, he was ever 
found in the thickest of the fight ; after the outer works 
were passed it was found that the passage to the inner 
works was impracticable, the bridges having been burned. 
Schlick, who was the General in command, left the Em- 
peror, to order the reconstruction of one of the bridges. 
Scarcely, however, had Schlick left him, before, followed 
by Count Grune, Count Gyulai and Prince Felix Schwar- 
zenburg, Franz Josef, without troops to protect him, 
dashed across and entered the town. For this feat of 
personal courage Franz Josef received from the Emperor 
of Russia the order of St. George, which is almost the 
only order he ever wears. The stain upon the Emperor's 
character is a spirit of cruelty, which allowed him to 
sanction the barbarities of Haynau and R-adetzky, as well 
as those executions, imprisonments and flaggelations of 
women, which he himself commanded in Hungary. 

The Provinces of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom are 
governed by a Viceroy, supposed to possess despotic power, 
but who really takes all his orders from Vienna. This 
Viceroy was, at the time of the breaking out of the war, 
the brother of the Emperor of Austria, the Archduke Fer- 
dinand Maximilian, born in 1832. He married, in June, 
1857, the Princess Charlotte, daughter of Leopold, King of 
Belgium, and of Louise, eldest daughter of Louis Philippe. 
The Princess Charlotte, named after her father's first wife, 
the Princess Charlotte of England, whom he has never 



44 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

ceased to venerate, is a most accomplished and liberal- 
minded Princess, and is said to have conciliated, during 
her brief reign, many of the noble Milanese families vrho 
had hitherto kept aloof from the Austrian Court. But 
Austria has never condescended to conciliate where she 
can command. During the reign of Napoleon, the Viceroy 
of Italy was Eugene Beauharnais. He was much beloved 
by the Milanese, and at the fall of Napoleon, when the 
Italians, exhausted by taxes and drained by contributions 
of men and money to the wars of the Emperor, revolted 
against him, Eugene was offered the sovereignty of the 
Kingdom of Lombardy, including Venice, Parma, and a 
portion of Piedmont. But the chivalrous Prince Eugene, 
faithful to his oath of fidelity to the Emperor, peremptor- 
ily refused, and shared the fate of the Bonaparte family, 
sinking into comparative insignificance as Duke de Leuch- 
tenburg. 

Foremost amongst the important personages now con- 
cerned in the command is the name of General Gyulai, a 
Hungarian, but firmly devoted to the House of Austria. 
Pie is, as a soldier, the pupil of Badetzky, a strict disci- 
plinarian, unrelenting and cruel. In 1848, when the 
revolt of Milan was threatening, Gyulai was Radetzky's 
aid-de-camp, and second in command. Meeting the old 
Marshal one day in the streets alone, Gyulai remonstrated 
with him concerning the imprudence of going about with- 
out escort. 

"I am perfectly safe," said the Marshal, "as long as 
you are alive." 

" How does that protect you? " 



ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 45 

" Because the Milanese know that if they kill me, you 
will succeed me, and they dread your severity more than 
mine." 

Count Francis Gyulai is the son of a Field Marshal in 
the service of Austria who died in 1831, and who was a 
Magyar of Transylvania, elevated to the rank of Count 
of the Empire in 1804. The present Count Gyulai was 
born in 1799. He was Minister of War in 1849 and 
Commander of the Adriatic coast, where he displayed his 
genius in the fortifications of Trieste and other maritime 
cities. In 1856 he was sent on a special mission to St. 
Petersburg, relative to the Eastern question. 

The two most remarkable Princes of the House of Aus- 
tria besides those mentioned, are the Archdukes Stephen 
and John, the great-uncles of the present Emperor, bro- 
thers of the Emperor Francis I. Stephen was Governor 
of Hungary at the time of the Revolution of 1848, and 
John is Governor of Styria, and has contracted a Mor- 
ganatic marriage with a peasant woman, whom the courtesy 
of the young Emperor has created Countess de Meran. 
John was the first who announced the resignation of Met- 
ternich to the people of Vienna ; he was Regent of Ger- 
many in 1848, and is altogether the most liberal of the 
Austrian Princes. 

The Emperors of Austria take the title of King of 
Lombardy, and for their coronations still make use of the 
celebrated iron crown. This crown, which is a richly 
chased golden circle enriched with gems, is, however, said 
to be lined on the inside with iron battered out of one of 
the nails of the holy cross. This crown had encircled the 



46 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

heads of all the sovereigns of Lombardy, whether by con- 
quest or descent, from Charlemagne down to Napoleon I. 
A superstitious importance is attached to it, and at the 
first news of the landing of the French at Genoa, the 
crown was taken from the palace of Monza, where it is 
kept, and sent by the Austrian Government, under strong 
escort, to Mantua, one of the most impregnable fortresses 
in Italy. It cost Napoleon nine months to get possession 
of it. 

Besides all the members above mentioned of the Aus- 
trian family proper, the Princes of the House of Austria 
reign over several other states of Italy, such as Parma, 
Modena, Lucca and Tuscany. 



CHAPTER V. 

VENICE — ORIGIN OF VENICE — FIRST DOGE — HENRI DANDOLO — GRADE- 
NIGO CHANGE OF GOVEMNMENT HEREDITARY ARISTOCRACY AC- 
QUISITION OF BRESCIA, BEGAMO, PADUA — THE LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY 

QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC A SPANISH BRIDE AND VENETIAN ADMIRAL — ■ 

THE TURKS DEFEAT OF THE OTTOMANS MOROSINI LOSS OF CANDIA 

TAKES THE MOREA DECLINE OF THE REPUBLIC DISCOVERY OF THE 

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE PEACE OF PASSAROVITZ NEUTRALITY OF VENICE 

SUBMITS TO THE FRENCH RESTORED TO AUSTRIA BY THE TREATY OP 

VIENNA REMINISCENCES OF VENICE ROME AND VENICE PIAZZA DI 

ST. MARCO BODY OF ST. MARK CURIOUS MODE OF TRANSPORTING IT 

FROM ALEXANDRIA PATRON SAINT OF VENICE WHAT BECAME OP 

IT — DISTURBANCES OF 1848 DANIELE MANINI NICOLO TOMMASEO 

THE ITALIAN LEGIONS DEFEAT AUSTRIA VIVA VENEZIA VIVA ITALIA 

VENICE DECLARES HER FREEDOM MANINI DICTATOR PEACE DE- 
SIRE FOR WAR SIX VOLUNTEERS — SURRENDER TO AUSTRIA DEATH OP 

MANINI HIS SON GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES OF VENICE POPULA- 
TION TERRITORY TAXATION VENICE AND ITS COMMERCE. 

There is a magic in the name of Venice wliicli evokes an 
ideal world, looking new, strange and magnificent, — beauti- 
ful, yet differing in its beauties from all else that is beautiful 
in the loveliest countries of beautiful Italy. Venezia la 
bella, as she is called, — Venezia, once the greatest republic 
in the world,- — Venezia, in whose ports the flags of every 
nation have streamed, — Venezia, who conquered the over- 
bearing Turk, — Venezia, who monoplized the commerce 
of the world, — owes its origin to the persecution of the de- 
vastator Alaric. Flying from the sword and flames that 

47 



48 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

enveloped their cities in 421, the inhabitants of Padua, 
Aquileia, and other smaller Roman Colonies along the 
coast of the Adriatic, fled to the marshes situated at the 
extremity of the Adriatic Gulf, and driving piles into the 
unstable soil, so laid the foundation of Venice. At first 
the colony was governed by Tribunes, but its increase of 
importance, its extent and its prosperity, at length obliged 
the people to concentrate the authority. They accord- 
ingly, in 697, elected Paulas Lucius Anafesto to the office 
of Doge. The government did not, however, cease to be 
democratic, but instead of three Presidents it had one. 
It increased rapidly in strength, importance and wealth, 
during six centuries, when in 1204, under Henri Dandolo, 
the forty-first Doge, it astonished the world by one of 
the greatest achievements of a century which was es- 
sentially an age of military glory. The Doge Dandolo, 
being then in his ninety-fourth year and entirely deprived 
of sight, with a fleet of five hundred sail and forty thou- 
sand men, which he commanded in person, laid siege to 
Constantinople and planted the standard of the Republic 
on its towers. Refusing the Imperial Crown of the East- 
ern Empire, the noble old warrior laid all his conquests at 
the feet of the people of Venice. The Morea and Candia 
were added also to Venice. 

In 1297, under Gradenigo, the forty-ninth Doge, a great 
change took place in the government of Venice. From 
an elective democracy it became an hereditary aristocracy ; 
a government which at first nobly sustained itself by 
opposing victoriously the potentates of Europe and the 
Ottoman forces Avhich threatened the possessions of the 
Republic in the East. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 49 

From 1338 to 1508 the principal Italian cities com- 
prised between Lombardy and the Adriatic recognised 
the Venetian power. Bergamo, Brescia, Padua, Vicenza 
and many lesser States, all formed a portion of the terri- 
tory of the Venetian Republic. 

In 1508, Pope Julius II., having imprisoned Caesar 
Borgia, extorted from the Venetians all his possessions and 
estates, taking at the same time violent possession of the 
Venetian territory in Romagna. Not content with this, 
the Pope, jealous of the power of Venice, entered into a 
league against her with Spain, France, Germany and the 
petty princes of Italy. This league is known in history 
as the League of Cambray, from the place in which it 
was signed. Still chivalrous, powerful and courageous, the 
Venetians withstood successfully these numerous enemies, 
and though they lost their possessions in the Morea, the 
isles of Cyprus, continued to be prosperous and great. 

Such was the power and influence of this State that 
when, in 1630, a Princess of Spain desired to pass up 
the Adriatic Gulf to Trieste to marry a son of the Em- 
peror of Germany, her Senate refused permission for the 
Spanish fleet to pass. The only manner in which this 
daughter of Spain could reach her affianced husband was 
to fight her way through blood and fire. The Spaniard^ 
haughty and powerful as he was, felt that it was no trifling 
matter to measure strength upon the ocean with the skillful 
commanders and practiced seaman of "The Queen of the 
Adriatic." Indisposed as the Spanish Court was to ac- 
cede to this claim of exclusive jurisdiction over this inland 
sea, it was finally obliged to yield. The gay and gallant 

D 



50 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Venetians dispatched a squadron of eight vessels, under 
one of their most distinguished Admirals, Palasini, to con- 
voy her in safety to her destination. The Princess is said 
to have fallen in love with the Venetian commander and 
ever afterwards to have had affectionate regard for him. 
Perhaps the most trying and terrible contest in which 
the Republic was ever engaged, not excepting that with 
Genoa, was her struggle for the maintenance of her sove- 
reignty in Candia. In 1645, the Turks, under the pre- 
tence of attacking the Knights of St. John in their strong- 
hold of Malta, fitted out and dispatched a fleet of three 
hundred and forty-eight galleys, on board of which were 
fifty thousand choice troops. The expedition was in reality 
destined for the conquest of Candia, then the most important 
of the foreign possessions of the Republic. The Venetians 
were taken by suprise. Slight successes at first rewarded 
the suddenness of the Turkish attack. In the first campaign 
they took Canca, a place of importance ; but thirty thousand 
Ottomans left their bones bleaching under its walls. For 
twenty-five long years this desperate contest went on. For 
many years, although greatly inferior in numbers, did the 
Venetians blockade the Dardanelles, permitting no Turkish 
vessel, during the season of active operations, to pass into 
or out of the port of Constantinople. During the years 
1655, 1656 and 1657, the Turks were fool-hardy enough 
to risk naval engagements in the Dardanelles for the pur- 
pose of clearing a passage to the open sea, but in each in- 
stance they were terribly beaten. But the resources of the 
Sublime Porte were too great for those of this little maritime 
State. Worn out, exhausted, she was ultimately obliged 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 61 

to succumb to superior force. It was in vain slie appealed 
to the great States of Christendom for aid. It was given 
so sparingly and in such stinted measure as to be of little 
avail. Even the forces of France, sent to her assistance 
at a critical moment, were in part led to a sanguinary 
death by the rashness of their leaders, and a part shame- 
fully deserted Morosini at the most trying hour of his life. 

Thus the whole island of Candia, save only two or three 
ports of minor importance, passed under the Turkish yoke 
in 1669, after 120,000 Osmanlis had perished side by 
side with 30,000 Christains. Thus one of the most im- 
portant and richly productive Provinces of the Republic 
passed out of their hands. She found an ample revenge 
for this loss, fifteen years afterwards, in wresting the 
Morea from the Turks. 

In 1T18 begins her decline. The conquests of Moro- 
sini in the Morea and in the East, were the last achieve- 
ments of Venice. At this time, too, the discovery of the 
Cape of Good Hope took away from her one of the 
greatest sources of her riches. Through Egypt, Venice 
had for centuries the monopoly of the commerce with 
the East ; now the seas open it for England, France, Spain 
and Portugal. Her people, degenerate from luxury and the 
very excess of prosperity, urged an undignified and ignoble 
peace at Passarovitz, which restricted her territory, and 
almost blotted her from the map. The glory of Venice had 
departed. In order to maintain a mere existence, Venice 
was reduced to a tame inactivity in the wars which 
now broke out between France and Austria. But even 
this, with all its humiliating consequences, was insufiicient 



52 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

to preserve its nationality, for in 1T96, the victorious 
French army having entered its territory, the Council of 
Venice laid doAvn its power and surrendered to the French. 
In the possession of the French it remained until it was 
included in the treaty of Vienna, which gave it, with Lom- 
bardy, to Austria. 

But Venice, though despoiled of her political import- 
ance, remains with Rome the most magnificent and poetical 
monument of that part of the world. In comparing one 
of these great cities to the other, Lannazo says that 
" Home is the most wonderful example of the genius of 
man, but that Venice appears to be not the work of 
human hands, but seems to have been created by the gods 
themselves. Seated on one hundred and twenty small 
islands, united by no less than four hundred and eighty 
bridges, her streets of palaces are washed to their marble 
porticos by the waters of the Adriatic, down w^hich, agile 
and swift, her gondolas glide in crowds like carriages in the 
streets of other capitals." 

Venice is under the patronage of St. Mark the Evan- 
gelist, who gives his name to the principal piece of terra- 
firma called the Piazza di St. Marco. It is on the 
Piazza di St. Marco that the former glories of Venice are 
vividly recalled by its columns in porphyry and marble, its 
oriental gems, its flag staffs whence floated the conquered 
banners of Candia, Cyprus and the Morea ; the wide Adri- 
atic before it, over which none dared dispute her right 
The Venetian traditions assert that the remains of the 
Evangelist were actually conveyed to Venice in the year 
829, under the most singular circumstances. Two Vene- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 53 

tian merchants, named Bono and Rustico, being in Alex- 
andria, where the Mahometans had begun a persecution 
against the Christians, ascertained that one of the churches 
contained the body of the Evangelist. They contrived by 
bribery and stratagem to gain possession of the holy relic, 
and in order to get it out in safety concealed the body in 
a basket covered with pork. When the Mahometans be- 
held the flesh of the accursed animal they investigated 
no further, and so the Saint was safely brought to 
Venice. He was deposited in the chapel of the Doge, 
and declared the patron Saint of the Republic, and the 
lion, which in the vision of Ezekiel is supposed to repre- 
sent the Evangelist, was emblazoned on all their stand- 
ards. But the most curious circumstance of all this is 
that the body of the Saint was actually privately sold. 
After it had achieved its reputation, it was deemed, prob- 
ably, by this commercial people, too expensive a capital 
to lie dormant. This neat little bit of bargaining was of 
course never publicly acknowledged, and in order to allay 
all inquiries, the place where the holy deposit rested was 
declared to be a State secret ! 

Venice was governed by Austria in the same manner as 
her other Provinces. Wearied at length with thirty-three 
years of tyranny, they ventured in 1848 to raise their 
voices, and to demand some concessions. These petitions 
were scoffed at. At the same time, the greatest tyranny 
and barbarity were exercised towards some of the most 
conspicuous of the malcontents. At this juncture Danielo 
Manini and Nicolo Tommaseo, men of great capacity and 
courage, raised their voices in harangues to the people 



54 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

against the Austrian oppression. They were immediatel}'' 
incarcerated. In the midst of the excitement caused by 
this arrest, news of the Revolution of Vienna reached 
Venice. En masse the people presented themselves be- 
neath the windows of the Governor and imperatively de- 
manded the liberation of Manini and other political 
prisoners. The Governor dared not refuse, but feeling 
danger at hand, ordered out the Civic Guard in addition to 
the regiments already in the town. But it was unfortu- 
nate for the Austrians that these regiments were mostly 
Italian. They all, with one accord, throwing away the 
Austrian colors, took part with the people, so that Zichy, 
the Military Governor of Venice, was obliged to resign his 
power into the hands of the people. Meantime Manini, at 
the head of the multitude, had got possession of the Ar- 
senal, was elevated to the chief command, and in reply to 
the cry of "Viva Venezia" he substituted "Viva Italia;" 
thereby involving the whole of Italy in the same cry for 
liberty. 

For nine months Manini, created Dictator of the Re- 
public, kept Austria at bay, and governed wisely and with 
moderation. It cannot be denied that the eyes of Italy 
were all fixed on France, with hope and reliance. This 
peculiarity has always characterized the revolutions of 
Italy. The counter revolution in France, the defeat of 
Charles Albert, and the presence of the Austrians at the 
outskirts of Venice, made the condition of that city ex- 
ceedingly critical. In these. perilous moments, Manini, 
never losing his presence of mind, and foreseeing that a 
catastrophe was at hand, addressed the people on the 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 55 

Piazza St. Marco. "Whatever may come to pass," said 
he, " friends and citizens, when you speak of me, say he 
deceived himself, but never, let me implore you, say this 
man deceived us, for to you and my country I have been 
true." 

To all these dangers the cholera added its horrors ; and 
news of the defeat of the Hungarians, and flight of Kos- 
suth, from whom they had received assurances of succor, 
plunged the Venetians into profound discouragement. On 
the 24th of June, 1849, the Provisional Government, with 
Manini at its head, declared that its functions had ceased, 
and Venice accepted the conditions offered by Radetzky, 
and, after eighteen months' struggle, it surrendered to the 
Austrians. The safety of the chiefs of the insurrection 
having been stipulated, Danielo Manini left Venice and pro- 
ceeded to Paris, where, like another Dante lamenting over 
the fall of his country, he died, surrounded by the esteem 
and admiration of the most distinguished men in France ; 
men who had striven in vain to console him in his exile. 

However much the people of Venice may have desired 
liberty, and been inclined to all sacrifices, there is a very 
curious fact related with regard to their disposition to 
fight. In the month of August the Venetians assembled 
in the Piazza St. Marco, tired of Manini's Fabian policy, 
and demanded to make a sortie en masse. Manini ha- 
rangued them in the following terms : 

"You want to fight. Do so. Who ever forbade you? 
But I confess that, though I have heard very loud talking, 
until now your words have not been borne out by acts. 
Now we shall see." 



56 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Manini, accordingly, had a table placed on the Piazza 
St. Marco, where every man who wished to venture upon 
this forlorn hope was to sign his name. At the end of 
many hours twelve names only adorned the page, six of 
which were effaced the next day. 

A son of Manini, who appears worthy of the name he 
hears, is a distinguished officer in the Franco-Sardinian 
army, now threatening to overthrow the power his father 
once banished from '■'•Venezia la hella." 

The territory embraced in the Austrian Generalship of 
Venice is bounded on the North by the Tyrol (another 
Province of Austria,) East by the Adriatic Sea and the 
Kingdom of Illyria, South by Modena and the Papal States, 
and West by its coterminous Department of Lombardy. 
It embraces the following Provinces: Vicenza, Friuli, 
Venice, Verona, Belluno, Rovigo, Treviso and Padua. 

The population of this Department was at the last cen- 
sus 2,281,732, and its area in square miles is 9,198. Thus 
it will be perceived that, whilst it embraces more territory 
than Lombardy, it has less population. Venice, its chief 
city, contained in 1846 a population of 127,925. The 
population, although the city passed through a most terri- 
ble siege in 1848, is perhaps greater now than it was 
when the census of 1846 was taken. 

The rivers which flow eastwardly out of Lombardy, and 
debouch into the Adriatic, also water this Department. 

Venice is the great seaport of the Lombardo-Venetian 
provinces. It once was the great entrepot for the com- 
merce of the East, but that commerce has long since 
sought other channels. The local trade of this port is 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 57 

Still considerable ; there cleared in 1853, 816 vessels, of 
an aggregate tonnage of 129,811 tons. The coasting trade 
of that year was carried on in 3,694 small vessels, tonnage 
299,883; and there arrived 876, tonnage 134,444, besides 
3,908 coasters, tonnage 286,651. Its trade is much aifected 
by its contiguity to Trieste, the waters of whose harbor 
are much deeper than those of its own. Nowhere can 
more than sixteen feet, at the highest rise, be obtained in 
any of the numerous entrances to that harbor. Indeed, the 
most frequented pass into its lagunes is at Malmoco, and 
there is a bar outside of it which vessels are compelled to 
cross, the deepest water upon which is ten feet. 

The statements made in a former chapter, relative to 
the levying of taxes and the raising of revenue in Lom- 
bardy by Austria, will apply with equal justice to their 
like operations in Yenetia. It is abundantly in evidence 
that Austria most shamefully discriminates against her 
Trans-Alpine Provinces in matters of revenue. There 
can be no equitable defence for such conduct upon her 
part. There can be no justification for an unequal, uneven 
rule upon the part of the sovereign head of a great Empire 
towards the people of certain districts of that Empire. 
However ignorant they may be upon matters of science, 
art, or general intelligence, they feel intensely all burdens 
upon their labor. They may for a time rest content under 
the heaviest impositions, if their pride or patriotism be 
aroused. But they are quick to learn and compute the 
comparative amounts of taxation put upon them and their 
fellow subjects of other Provinces. When they clearly 
comprehend a difi'erence such as is alluded to above, every 



58 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

tax-payer is at heart a rebel, and tlie red cross of revolt 
is hailed everywhere with electric enthusiasm and joy. 
Hence the quick, terrible revolutions of 1848, in Milan, 
in Mantua, in Venice, and in all the cities of Lombardo- 
Venetian Italy. Hence, there will be a renewal of these 
revolutions, upon a grander scale — a repetition, with a 
more hloodj mise en scene — should defeat or disaster over- 
take the Austrians in these Provinces. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ORIGIN OF THE WAR — MOTIVES OF FRANCE, AUSTRIA AND SARDINIA — THE 
MANIFESTOES OP FRANCIS JOSEPH, VICTOR EMANUEL AND LOUIS NAPO- 
LEON. 

The origin of the present war, like tlie beginning of all 
other events of magnitude — events so great that none, 
however gifted with a profound insight into the future of 
human affairs, can either foresee or approximate to the 
probable consequences which may, immediately or remote- 
ly, wait upon them — is to be found in a series of mixed 
motives. First, Austria and France have been in collision 
more frequently than any other Continental nations. They 
have run a race of rivalry, in arms and conquest, for cen- 
turies back. Italy has ever been to them a field of combat. 
So jealous was England of the power of France at the 
conclusion of the treaty of 1815, that the Prince Regent 
(afterwards George IV.) insisted upon Austria keeping the 
Lombardo-Venetian provinces, in order that the Alpine 
gates of Italy might be shut against the French by the 
interjection of a first rate European power between them 
and Middle and Southern Italy. 

But Louis Napoleon would be more or less than a 
Bonaparte, could he forget the treachery of the House of 
Hapsburg to his uncle, and the part she took in the 
humiliation of France in 1814-15. Did she not refuse, 

in recent years, to join in the crusade of the Western 

59 



60 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Powers against Russia? Has she not turned a deaf ear 
to the patient, but earnest, remonstrances addressed to her 
by France and England against her maladministration in 
Italy ? Has she not persistently refused to exercise her 
established influence with the Central and Southern States 
of the Peninsula, for the amelioration of their terrible 
outrages upon humanity ? 

But, above all, she has recently resolved to wipe out of 
existence the only liberal constitutional Kingdom of Italy. 
This Kingdom is the sincere friend and ally of France. 
Her soldiers proved this at the Tchernaya and in the des- 
perate combats fought under the walls of Sebastopol. The 
Imperial family of France has had its relationship recent- 
ly, drawn more closely to the Court of Sardinia, by the 
marriage of Prince Napoleon, son of Jerome Bonaparte, 
to the Princess Clothilde, the eldest daughter of Victor 
Emanuel. The Emperor evidently felt that he could not 
permit Austria to crush out the only power in Italy which 
thoroughly sympathized with France. 

Sardinia has long had a traditional policy. That policy 
has been to increase her territory to the East and South. 
Charles Albert evidently desired to constitute himself 
King of the whole of Northern Italy, if not of the whole 
Peninsula. The execution of this idea was suspended by 
his overthrow in 1848, but the policy of the father is, 
doubtless, fondly cherished by the son. Besides, he and 
his people hug closely to their hearts an unrelenting hate 
to Austria, from the memories of past defeat, and there- 
fore, of national disgrace. A deeper feeling may be said 
to pervade many of his subjects; they desire the freedom 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 61 

of their brethren in the neighboring States from the 
Austrian rule, and regard their King and Louis Napoleon 
as their destined liberators. 

Austria, since the death of Francis I., has changed the 
policy of that Monarch in regard to Italy. She has 
sought, steadily, to advance her interests and power. Hence, 
the marriage of members of her royal family to nearly 
every Prince, Duke or Lord, within the limits of Italy. 
There is but little doubt she would have a royal Princess 
ready to marry every Pope, if she felt that it would advance 
her interests; for, surely, her royal family is numerous 
enough to supply all the civilized States of the world with 
wives for their rulers, as Saxe Coburg is with husbands 
for the Queens and Princesses. Hence the Continental 
proverb, that ''Austria wins her victories by the marriage 
bed." She desires, evidently, that she shall be sole arbi- 
tress of the fate of Italy, and that she shall rule without 
a rival or a peer. 

Her ruler, like all despots, is lynx-eyed, and has not 
failed to discover the depth and intensity of hatred enter- 
tained by all Italians toward his Empire. He knows, full 
well, that if a free, constitutional State, like Sardinia, is 
suffered to continue, as a protest against tyranny and as 
an example of comparative freedom, it will excite the 
spirit of revolt among his subjects. There is nothing 
which restrictive monarchs dread so much as domestic 
revolution. Whilst their armies are fighting nationalities 
they do not constantly dread that the very basis of their 
thrones is rotting away from them. Let revolution but 
once begin, and they quake like the Assyrian monarch at 



62 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

his midniglit feast ; for they cannot tell where nor how the 
lightning of popular indignation will strike : it is a subtle, 
pervading element, that seems to lurk everywhere, with 
hugely explosive qualities, so soon as a point of contact 
is gained. 

Perhaps the best mode of submitting an unprejudiced 
view of the immediate motives and policy of all the bellig- 
erents, will be obtained by presenting extracts from the 
manifestoes put forward by the different Monarchs. 

The following is an extract from the manifesto of the 
Austrian Emperor : 

AUSTRIAN MANIFESTO. 

"To my people: — I liave ordered my faithful and gallant army to 
put a stop to the inimical acts (Anfeindungen) which for a series of 
years have been committed by the neighboring State of Sardinia against 
the indisputable rights of my Crown, and against the integrity of tlie 
realm placed by God under my care, which acts have lately attained 
the very highest point (auf ihren Hohenpunkte angelangt). By so 
doing I have fulfilled the painful (schwere) but unavoidable duty 
of a Sovereign. My conscience being at rest, I can look up to an 
omnipotent God, and patiently await His award. With confidence 
I leave my decision to the impartial judgment of contemporaneous and 
future generations. Of the approbation of my faithful subjects I am 
sure. More than ten years ago the same enemy — violating international 
law and the usages of war, and without any offence being given — 
entered the Lombardo-Venetian territory with the intent to acquire pos- 
session of it. Although the enemy was twice totally defeated by my 
gallant army, and at the mercy of the victor, I behaved generously, and 
proposed a reconciliation (reichte die Hand zur Versohnung). I did 
not appropriate to myself one inch of his territory ; I encroached on no 
light which belongs to Sardinia, as one of the members of the European 
family of nations ; I insisted on no guarantees against the recurrence of 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 63 

similar events. The hand of peace which I in all sincerity extended, 
and which was taken, appeared to me to be a sufficient guarantee, The 
blood which my army shed for the honor and right of Austria, I sacri- 
ficed on the altar of peace (den Frieden brachte Ich das Blut meiner 
Armee zum Opfer). The reward for such unexampled forbearance was 
immediate continuation of enmity, which increased from year to year, 
and perfidious agitation against the peace and welfare of my Lombardo- 
Tenetian Kingdom. Well knowing what a precious boon peace was for 
my people and for Europe, I patiently bore with those new hostilities. 
My patience was not exhausted when the more extensive measures 
which I was forced to take, in consequence of the revolutionary agita- 
tion on the frontiers of my Italian Provinces and within the same, were 
made an excuse for a higher degree of hostility. Willingly accepting 
the well-meant mediation of friendly Powers for the maintenance of 
peace, I consented to become a party to a Congress of the Five Great 
Powers. The four points proposed by the Royal Government of Great 
Britain as a basis for the deliberations of the Congress were forwarded 
to my Cabinet, and I accepted them with the conditions which were cal- 
culated to bring about a true, sincere, and durable peace. In the con- 
sciousness that no step on the part of my Government could, even in the 
most remote degree, lead to a disturbance of the peace, I demanded that 
the Power which was the cause of the complication, and had brought 
about the danger of war, should, as a preliminary measure, disarm. 
Being pressed thereto by friendly Powers, I at length accepted the 
proposal for a general disarmament. The mediation failed in conse- 
quence of the unacceptableness of the conditions on which Sardinia 
made her consent dependent. Only one means of maintaining peace 
remained. I addressed myself directly to the Sardinian Government, 
and summoned it to place its army on a peace footing and to disband the 
free corps. As Sardinia did not accede to my demand, the moment for 
deciding the matter by an appeal to arms has arrived. 
I have ordered my army to enter Sardinia." 



64 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

The vindication of "Victor Emanuel is subjoined : 

SARDINIAN MANIFESTO. 

"Soldiers! — Austria, which increases its army on our frontiers, and 
threatens to invade our territory, because liberty here reigns with order 
— because not force, but concord and affection between people and Sov- 
ereign here rule the State — because the crieg of suffering, of oppressed 
Italy here find a hearing, Austria dares to intimate to us, armed only in 
defence, that we are to lay down our arms and put ourselves in her 
power. 

The outrageous intimation called for a worthy reply. I have disdain- 
fully rejected it. 

Soldiers ! I announce this to you, certain that you will take to your- 
selves the outrage offered to your King — to the nation. The announce- 
ment I give to you, is the announcement of war. To arms, then, 
soldiers ! 

You will find yourselves opposed to no new enemy ; but, if he bo 
brave and disciplined, you do not fear the meeting, and may boast of the 
days of Goito, of Pastrengo, of Santa Lucia, of Somma Campagna, of 
Custoza itself, where only four brigades contended for three days with 
five corps d'armie. 

I will be your leader. On former occasions we have known a great 
part of you in the heat of combats ; and I, fighting by the side of my 
magnanimous father, admired your valor with pride. 

On the field of honour and of glory you, I am certain, will know how 
to preserve, and also to increase, your fame as valiant soldiers." 

The foregoing would not be complete without adding 
that of Louis Napoleon : 

"Austria in causing her army to enter the territories of the King of 
Sardinia, our ally, declares war against us. She thus violates treaties 
and justice, and menaces our frontiers. All the great Powers have pro- 
tested against this aggression. Piedmont having accepted the conditions 
which ought to have insured peace, one asks what can be the reason of 




/If^LcLat ^'mamiel. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 65 

this sudden invasion? It is that Austria has brought matters to this ex- 
tremity, that she must either rule up to the Alps, or Italy must "be free 
to the shores of the Adriatic; for in this country every corner of terri- 
tory which remains independent endangei'S her power. 

Hitherto moderation has been the rule of my conduct ; now energy be- 
comes my first duty. Let France arm, and resolutely tell Europe : — "I de- 
sire not conquest, but I desire firmly to maintain my national and tradi- 
tional policy. I observe the treaties on condition that no one shall violate 
them against me. I respect the territories and rights of neutral Powers, 
but I boldly avow my sympathies for a people whose history is mingled 
with my own, and who groan under foreign oppression." 

France has shown her hatred of anarchy. She has been pleased to 
give me a power strong enough to reduce into nonentity the abettors of 
disorder and the incorrigible members of those old factions whom one 
incessantly sees confederating with our enemies ; but she has not for all 
that abdicated her task of civilization. Her natural allies have always 
been those who desire the improvement of the human race, and when 
she draws the sword it is not to dominate but to liberate. The object of 
this war, then, is to restore Italy to herself, not to impose upon her a 
change of masters, and we shall then have upon our frontiers a friendly 
people, who will owe to us their independence. 

We do not go into Italy to foment disorder or to disturb the power of 
the Holy Father, whom we have replaced upon his throne, but to remove 
from him this foreign pressure, which weighs upon the whole Peninsula, 
and to help to establish there order, based upon legitimate satisfied in- 
terests. We are going, then, to seek upon this classic ground, illustrated 
by so many victories, the footsteps of our fathei^s. God grant that we 
may be worthy of them ! I am going soon to place myself at the head of 
the army." 

More elaborate vindications of tlie motives of the three 
Monarchs, have appeared from the pens of their Prime 
Ministers, but the gist and pith of all they have said is 
contained in the official utterances of theii" Sovereigns. 

E 



CHAPTER VII. 



LOUIS NAPOLEON THE SELF-DECEPTION OF THE WORLD RELATIVE TO HIS 

TALENTS EARLY CAREER GIVEN TO ELUCIDATE THE CAUSES OF THE 

■world's IGNORANCE OF HIS ABILITIES HIS BIRTH AND BIRTH-PLACE 

DECREE OF BANISHMENT HIS MOTHER, HORTENSE BEAUHARNAIS 

HER RETREAT AT LAKE GENEVA DESCRIPTION OF IT HIS TEACHERS 

AND EDUCATION — THE ATTENTION OF HIS MOTHER TO THESE THINGS — 
HIS EARLY CHARACTER AUGSBURG ARENBURG HIS REPUBLICAN- 
ISM — EFFECTS OP MOUNTAIN SCENERY UPON HIS MIND — HIS BROTHER 
NAPOLEON — RECONCILIATION OF LOUIS AND HORTENSE — CONSPIRACY 

OF THE BROTHERS RELATIVE TO ITALY THEY JOIN THE ROMAGNIAN 

INSURRECTION APPOINTED TO THE SUPREME COMMAND RESIGN IT 

THE BOLOGNESE, TO FLATTER LOUIS PHILIPPE, COMPEL THEM TO RETIRE 

TO FORLI DEATH OF NAPOLEON SUPPOSED CRIMINALITY OF LOUIS 

KAPOLEON A GROSS ERROR FEVER AT ANCONA RUSE OF HIS MOTHER 

TO CONCEAL HIM FROM THE AUSTRIANS ESCAPE TO ENGLAND OFFER 

OF TALLEYRAND — RETURN TO SWITZERLAND — BECOMES AN AUTHOR — 
HIS INTERCOURSE WITH LEADNG MEN HIS ATTEMPT AT STRASBURO 

LOUIS Philippe's knowledge of the plot — failure — shipped to 

THE united states ANECDOTE OF JOSEPH BONAPARTE CORRESPOND- 
ENCE WITH HIS MOTHER AFFIANCED TO MATHILDE CONDUCT IN THE 

UNITED STATES LOVE TO HIS MOTHER REVERENCE FOR HER MEMORY 

NATIONAL AIR OF FRANCE DRIVEN FROM SWITZERLAND — GOES TO 

ENGLAND RECEPTION IN LONDON — COUNT d'oRSAY — LORD EGLINGTON's 

TOURNAMENT IMPRESSION HE MADE ON GREAT LADIES FACULTY FOR 

child's play FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS BOULOGNE EXPEDITION 

HAM HIS ESCAPE RETURN TO LONDON — HIS FRIENDS HIS POLI 

TICAL CONVICTIONS MANNER OF LIVING IN LONDON LITERARY WORK 

— DEATH OF LOUIS, EX-KING OF HOLLAND — THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 

— LOUIS NAPOLEON SPECIAL CONSTABLE — PROPOSED AS DEPUTY TO THE 

66 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 67 

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTED BY FOUR DEPAKTMENTS SCENE IN NA- 
TIONAL ASSEMBLY RE-ELECTED FIRST SPEECH IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 

ELECTION FOR PRESIDENCY CONDUCT DURING ELECTION ELECTED 

PRESIDENT INAUGURATION RIBILLOT GENERAL PETIT. 



Familiar as the public are with the striking events in the 
career of the French Emperor since he became the head 
of a great nation, there are yet many of the facts of his 
life previous to his election as a Deputy to the National 
Assembly in 1848, which possess a lively interest for those 
who admire great talent, wherever and by whomsoever 
displayed. An additional interest is imparted to the early 
incidents of his career, because he has so completely over- 
set all prior estimates placed upon his abilities. People 
desire to unravel this puzzle, to solve the enigma. The 
world had set him down as a visionary, a schemer, without 
either the bravery or the talent necessary to achieve a 
very ordinary reputation as a statesman or a soldier. 
Contrary to this wiseacre opinion of the world, he has 
displayed talents equal to any emergency which has, as 
yet, arisen — resources ample enough to meet every crisis 
that has fallen upon his career as a public ruler — nay, 
more, he has shown himself capable of first-rate diploma- 
tic combinations. He set nearly all Europe upon Russia 
in 1854. Those nations who did not actively participate 
in the Crimean war were forced to affect a * 'masterly in- 
activity" policy. 

It is too late, now, to undertake a defence of his abili- 
ties. He has entered upon a new arena of action. He is 
at the head of a great army, and there is but little doubt 



68 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

his talents are fully adequate to all the demands of this 
new theatre of achievement. 

The world finds itself deceived, and now wishes to go 
back and lift the veil of his past history, in order to dis- 
cover where and how the deception came about. This can 
only be done by a somewhat lengthy statement of his 
education, places of residence, and modes of living; by 
references to those with whom he came in contact and 
with whom he habitually associated; and by allusions to 
his modes of thought, as displayed in action. This review 
shall be as brief as possible. 

Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is the third son of Louis 
Bonaparte, ex-King of Holland, brother of Napoleon I., 
and of Hortense Beauharnais, daughter of the Empress 
Josephine by her first husband, the Marquis de Beauhar- 
nais. He was born on the 20th of April, 1808. Although 
son of the King of Holland, as if in anticipation of his 
future destinies, he first saw the light in the palace of the 
Tuilleries. But the events which followed in quick suc- 
cession during the early years of his boyhood, appeared 
destined not only to exclude him from the palace of the 
French Sovereigns, but to banish him forever even from 
the soil of France. Although the existence of the Duke 
de Reichstadt, direct heir to the Emperor Napoleon, gave 
the children of Hortense (two of whom were then living) 
little importance, the decrees of the new Government of 
France banished the whole of the Bonaparte family from 
its territory. Accordingly, Hortense and her two children 
began a weary pilgrimage from state to state and town 
to town, now driven away by the authorities, now impelled 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 69 

by her own restless spirit, which, after the wondrous ele- 
vation of her mother, herself, and all around her, could 
not rest, nor feel convinced that hope was at an end, and 
that Napoleon, the conqueror, was at last conquered and 
politically dead for ever. At length, Hortense, who was 
then known as Duchess de St. Leu, felt a craving for 
rest, and proceeded to search for a retreat where, secure 
from the assaults and insults of her enemies, her mind 
could recover its serenity and find occupation in the only 
duty now left her, the education of her children. Sickened 
with the hum of human voices, bitterly convinced of the 
shallowness of courtly friendships, Hortense strove to find 
an asylum where the unchanging beauty and majesty of 
nature should elevate her above the petty, irritating cares 
which had persecuted her since her exile, and at the same 
time console her for the loss of the evanescent grandeur of 
the world. She accordingly fixed her residence on the 
lake of Constance, near the old and picturesque town of 
that name, at the point where the waters of the lake, be- 
coming suddenly narrower, afford a passage for the rapid 
Rhine whose green waters, rushing in clear distinctness 
through the dark blue waves of the lake, separate it 
into two parts. Near this spot, adding to the striking 
beauty of the scene, is the old covered bridge thrown 
across the stream which connects it with the territory of 
the Duchy of Baden. 

Here, under the care of the Abbe Bertrand and M. de 
Marmold, the education of Louis began with methodical 
earnestness ; though the wandering and perilous life he 
had led had already inculcated many moral lessons that 



70 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

after life cannot give, and of wliich experience alone 
can be the teacher. The professors to whom she had 
confided him not being well versed in the lighter accom- 
plishments, Hortense herself undertook the task of teach- 
ing drawing, dancing and music, in all of which accom- 
plishments she was a proficient. Louis, however, proved 
to be a difficult boy to teach ; there was a recklessness 
and vivacity about him which made him chafe under re- 
straint and methodical study. A more severe professor 
was therefore sought for, ai\d found in the person of M. 
Lebas, whose father had been a personal friend of Robes- 
pierre and who, having at his downfall, the courage to 
prove his admiration by imitation, had shot himself in order 
not to survive him. Louis, under this man, began to ac- 
quire an independent and firm character. He had no silly 
prejudices concerning his rank and birth, but associated 
freely with all the boys of his own age in the neighbor- 
hood; his chief friend being a miller's son whose father 
lived on the bridge over the Rhine. Louis Napoleon was 
tender hearted, impulsive and charitable, and there are 
many anecdotes told of his liberality and generosity in 
his boyish days. As Louis advanced towards manhood, 
his mother began to feel it necessary that he should have 
the advantages of a public education and association with 
youths of his own age and position, which, although he 
had been born a Prince, was no other than that of a pri- 
vate gentleman. Hortense therefore resolved on proceed- 
ing to Augsburg, where for four years he attended the 
lectures of the University. In the intervals of the scho- 
lastic terms, Hortense took him with her through various 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 71 

parts of Italy and Germany, and, probably, in these 
excursions did more to form his mind and store his memory 
than all the professors of Augsburg. Meanwhile, Hor- 
tense, having chosen a most beautiful and picturesque site 
in the Canton of Thurgovia, began to construct a chateau 
for her future residence which is know^n as the Castle of 
Arenburg, and to which Napoleon's advent to the throne 
has added, besides its renown for picturesque beauties, 
great historical importance. 

The situation of Arenburg was striking and beautiful, 
commanding an extensive view of the lake of Constance, 
the largest of the Swiss lakes, one indeed which loses the 
fairy character of a lake and assumes the dignity of a 
sea, but a sea enclosed by majestic and towering moun- 
tains. Those who have lived in a mountainous country 
have felt the effect produced by its wild and savage gran- 
deur upon the mind. There is no doubt that the scenery 
amid which the youth of Napoleon was passed contributed 
much to the strength of his character, to his habit of 
silence, and to a certain dignity of mind, fearlessness and 
power of endurance, which are the characteristics of all 
mountaineers. Louis Napoleon, from his residence, his 
education and companions, could not but be a Republican 
in theory at this time. But the traditions of his family, 
his mother's adoration of Napoleon I., the accounts of his 
sufferings, all contributed to nourish in his heart a desire 
for revenge, which first gave rise, probably, to the vague 
ambition of achieving some position that should rehabili- 
tate and reestablish his dynasty. His brother Napoleon, 
all this time was with his father, who resided in Florence. 



t^ 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 



A tardy reconciliation had taken place between Hortense 
and her husband, so that by visiting Florence she was 
allowed the enjoyment of her elder son's society. 

It would appear that as early as 1830 the two young 
Princes, on hearing of the fall of Charles X., had entered 
into a conspiracy to subvert the governments of Italy, for 
the purpose of establishing an Italian Republic. That 
they may then have entertained ideas of obtaining the 
supremacy of Italy, founded, as such ideas would natu- 
rally be, upon the traditions of both Napoleon I. and 
Eugene Beauharnais, is probable ; but at this time they 
could neither of them have thought of the throne of 
Erance, for the Duke de Reichstadt was still living, as 
well as Joseph, who was of course the head of the Bona- 
parte family after the direct heir. 

Louis Napoleon and his brother both openly joined the 
insurgents in Romagna, and out of deference to their 
rank, they were at first promoted to the supreme com- 
mand, but their youth and inexperience soon obliged them 
to make over their posts to Sercognani and Armandi. 

In 1831, however, the Provisional Government of Bo- 
logna, having some hope of obtaining the protection of 
France, in order to flatter Louis Philippe refused to let 
the two Princes serve, even as private soldiers, in the 
army of Romagna. They were therefore compelled to 
leave, and retired to Forli. There are, in the numerous 
Italian memoirs of those concerned in the revolution of 
that period, several allusions to the Princes, and all bear 
testimony to their skill and personal bravery. Meanwhile, 
overcome by anxiety for her sons, Avearied by the weak 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 73 

and querulous complaints of her husband, her heart riven 
by witnessing the deep agony of the young wife of her 
eldest son, about to become a mother, Hortense through 
unheard of difficulty and peril contrived to join her 
children at Forli. Here, however, the greatest sorrow of 
all awaited her. Louis received his mother in his arms, 
as overcome with fatigue and anxiety she descended from 
her carriage, and drawing her to his heart revealed to her 
that he was now her only son, for Napoleon, his elder 
brother, was dead. Detractors of the present Emperor 
of the French have even gone so far back as this to dis- 
cover crime, and have attributed his brother's death to 
foul play. But there could be no motive for such a deed 
on the part of Louis Napoleon. There was no inheritance 
between them ; for even had the throne of France been in 
their family, there were many who stood in his way before 
his brother. There was nothing extraordinary in the fact 
that a young Prince, exposed to unusual fatigue, bodily 
privation and mental excitement, should die of a typhus 
fever, caught in the plains of Romagna. 

News now came that the Austrians were advancing and 
there was no time for the indulgence of grief. Hortense 
and her son pursued their way to Ancona, and here, in 
the midst of the most imminent peril, Louis Napoleon was 
seized with fever and was presently declared to have 
the measles. Hortense had engaged a vessel to take her 
to Corfu. It was, however, impossible for her son to be 
moved. She therefore with great courage and presence 
of mind resolved to remain, allowing, however, the vessel 
to sail and arranging matters so that it was supposed by 



74 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

all that Louis had sailed in her, and that Hortense had 
remained behind on account of illness. With continued 
precaution she concealed his presence in the apartment 
until he was able to depart in the disguise of a footman 
behind his mother's carriage. They took refuge in Tus- 
cany, spite of the refusal of the Grand Duke to afford 
them protection. Panoplied by the maternal love which 
inspired Hortense for his safety they reached England. 
They were well recieved in the higher circles of that 
country. At length Hortense desired to return to Switz- 
erland and passports were offered to her by Talleyrand, 
through the north of France, as it was feared, Belgium 
being then in commotion, the "braves Beiges " much in 
want of a King, like the frogs, would seize upon the first 
Prince that fell in their way and place him on their 
throne. Had this occurred, would that throne have satis- 
fied Louis Napoleon ? This cannot be answered, but cer- 
tain it is, that if Talleyrand could have foreseen the des- 
tinies reserved for the young scion of the Bonaparte race, 
he would have allowed him to go through Brussels, and 
have run the risk of his being contented with that small 
Sovereignty. 

Once more in Switzerland, Louis Napoleon, feeling the 
influence of the repose around him, fell into speculative 
philosophy. Here he wrote "Les Reveries," a work con- 
taining political maxims and foreshadowing his ambitious 
projects. His life at Arenburg was one of tranquil enjoy- 
ment. Hortense lived, if not in state, in affluence. The 
country round was beautiful ; the lake spread its broad 
expanse before him. Arenburg, too, had become a sort 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 75 

of shrine for travelers. As time mellowed and poetized 
the great deeds of the Empire, and martyrdom and death 
effaced the faults of the Emperor, all that pertained to 
him became interesting and sacred. Louis Napoleon was 
thus brought into communication with many of the master 
spirits of the day, who kept him well informed of the politi- 
cal atmosphere of Europe. The results of these various 
elements was the ill-judged and badly-executed attempt at 
Strasburg to obtain the sovereign power of France. It 
must, however, not be forgotten that it is proved beyond 
all doubt, that from the first Louis Philippe was informed 
through Colonel Yaudrey, the pretended friend of Louis 
Napoleon, of the 'whole conspiracy, and that he had al- 
lowed it to go on in order to destroy Louis Napoleon's 
pretensions through the medium of ridicule. He had not 
scrupled, in the same way, to destroy all the prestige 
attached to his niece, the Duchess de Berri, by forcing her 
into the necessity of a marriage in prison to screen her 
reputation. In pursuance of the same policy, Louis Phi- 
lippe took care not to give importance to the Bonapartes 
by persecution or condign punishment, but treating the 
whole affair with contempt, sent the young Prince on board 
a French ship to the United States. This expedition was 
looked on by all parties, it must be confessed, as rash and 
absurd. The eldest surviving member of the Bonaparte 
family, Joseph Count de Survilliers, looked on it with dis- 
approval, and as a positive infringement of his rights. 
^' For," said he to his physician and friend, "if the crown 
of France is to come to our family, it comes to me before 



76 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Louis Napoleon ; for I am head of the family, and should 
not allow him to overlook me." 

Louis Napoleon baffled, but not conquered, landed in 
the United States, where he was received by two of his 
cousins, Achille and Lucien Murat, now citizens of the 
young Republic ; both of whom were unknown to him. The 
correspondence of Louis Napoleon with his mother during 
this period is full of feeling, philosophy, and courage. 
Amidst all his sorrows he appears to have carried away 
with him a love grief. He was deeply attached at that 
time to his cousin Mathilde, with whom he had constantly 
associated during his visits to Florence, and who had often 
come to Arenburg on visits to his mother. Some difficulty, 
however, appears to have separated them, arising from the 
young lady herself, whose capricious ajffections underwent 
a change. It was not, however, until 1841, after the ex- 
pedition of Boulogne, that she married the Count Anatole 
Demidoff. 

There have been various conflicting accounts with regard 
to his conduct in the United States. Some have described 
him as dissipated, and frequenting disreputable society, as 
well as getting deeply into debt ; which debts are said to 
be still unpaid. This is scarcely probable. Louis Napoleon 
was not at that time poor. Hortense, like the rest of the 
Bonaparte family (with the exception of Jerome), had well 
provided for a reverse of fortune. Besides, it was not 
even Louis Napoleon's habit to seek low associates, nor 
was he fond of low, noisy dissipation ; more especially, he 
was in no way addicted to intemperance. Bumor, there- 
fore, in spreading these reports, has probably mistaken 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 77 

one cousin for another, and attributed to the Emperor the 
freaks of his cousin Pierre Bonaparte, who was twice in 
the United States. Louis Napoleon was recalled from 
his exile by alarming accounts of his mother's health, and 
making all haste, and defying all the orders of the French 
Government, which, however, had no power over him, once 
on the American shores, he returned to Switzerland. 

He arrived only in time to receive her last sigh. Napo- 
leon's love for his mother had in it a tenderness and devo- 
tion even beyond that of a son. She had been his instructor 
and companion, and from the hour of her change of posi- 
tion she had manifested great and noble qualities, which 
the frivolity and prosperity of a Court might for ever have 
left unrevealed. Hortense was a woman to be loved and 
revered, and even at this distance of years Napoleon's love 
for his mother has suffered no change. He has striven in 
all ways to associate her with his present high fortune ; he 
has made an air of her composition, " Partant pour la 
Syrie," the national air of France; the ship which bore 
him from Marseilles to Genoa on this Italian expedition is 
called La Reine Hortense, after his mother. 

Louis Napoleon remained in Switzerland until the Duke 
de Montebello, instructed by Louis Philippe, demanded 
his extradition from Switzerland. The Swiss were disposed 
to resent this infringement on their liberties, but as the 
French threatened war they yielded, and Louis Napoleon 
went to England, having, thanks to the ill-judged move- 
ment of Louis Philippe, acquired celebrity and political 
importance sufficient to make him partizans and friends, 
as well as an object of public attention. 



78 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Here he entered into the promiscuous society of London, 
where for some time he was made a lion at fashionable 
parties, until his reserved manners and his absence of small 
talk, which made it so difficult to drmo him out, made 
popular curiosity leave him aside. His particular and 
intimate friend was Count D'Orsay, a man who had many 
detractors, and probably many faults, but a man un- 
doubtedly of intellect and courage, highly accomplished, 
and capable of strong attachments. Besides Gore House, 
Louis Napoleon visited frequently at Eglinton Castle. 
The young Earl, then a bachelor, gave the celebrated 
tournament at Eglinton Castle. During the preparations 
and rehearsals Louis Napoleon became intimate with many 
of the English nobility. He distinguished himself, too, at 
the tournament for his skill and his horsemanship. He 
was an admirable billiard-player, and a great chess-player, 
as well as fond of a game of whist. The intimacy with 
Lord Eglinton continued after the marriage of the Earl, 
and Louis Napoleon was frequently invited to stay at the 
Castle. The impression that he made on Lady Eglington 
and her visitors was that of a quiet, gentlemanly, inoffensive 
young man, who contributed nothing either to the conver- 
sation or the amusement of the company. He was skillful 
at ~ull physical exercises, but very still and silent in a 
drawing-room, and certainly left no impression of possess- 
ing great powers of mind or extraordinary capacities of 
any kind. When the ladies withdrew from the table he 
he was in the habit of leaving, and usually proceeded to 
the nursery, where he had impressed the three young 
daughters of the Countess, by a former marriage, with a 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1850. 79 

great idea of his talents in all baby plays, such as ball, 
blind man's buff, etc., but more especially they remembered 
his extraordinary genius in making rabbits and shadows 
on the wall. Evidently Louis' mind and inner nature were 
at work, and during these years in London revealed them- 
selves to few. 

In 1840, Louis Napoleon, by this time no longer having 
his mother as a faithful steward to administer his fortune, 
became exceedingly embarrassed, and was likewise deeply 
in debt. It is almost impossible for foreign private for- 
tunes to compete with such wealth as was possessed by 
those with whom he associated in England (Lord Eglinton 
for instance, who has an income of forty thousand pounds) 
without entailing ruin. Perhaps his embarrasments con- 
tributed to make him precipitate the expedition he medi- 
tated to Boulogne against Louis Philippe. All details on 
this rash, ill-advised, and worse-executed expedition would 
be now superfluous. Suffice it to say that Louis Napoleon 
was taken prisoner and conveyed to Ham, where he was 
kept in close confinement from 1840 to 1846. On the 
25th of May he effected his escape in the disguise of a 
workman, and through the ready wit, skill and devotion 
of his physician. Dr. Conneau, who had been a friend of 
his mother. Once out of the fortress, Louis Napoleon and 
his valet made the best of their way to St. Quentin, passed 
the Belgian frontier, and were soon safe in London. In 
London he found his old friends, Count d'Orsay and Lady 
Blessington, who, though in hopeless embarrassment, wel- 
comed him most cordially, and in addition to these he 
had the countenance and support of a great English con- 



80 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 18G9. 

nexion, whicli his cousin the Princess Marie of Baden had 
formed by espousing the Marquis of Douglas, eldest son 
of the Duke of Hamilton. To her, more than to all others, 
he is said to have confided his projects and hopes, and to 
have distinctly declared his conviction that the seventeen 
years of the Orleans rule being about to expire, the Bour- 
bon branch having reigned as long after the restoration, 
the turn of the Bonapartes had arrived. 

During his residence in London Louis Napoleon, ex- 
cluding himself from general society, frequented Gore 
House, at which no women ever visited, but which was 
frequented by all the celebrated artists, politicians, and 
literati of the day. He went to the clubs, where he was 
admitted as a visitor, and in general associated with that 
sort of back-door society that brought him in contact with 
the best men of the day, and several of the most beautiful 
and brilliant women — living independently, but splendidly, 
without the pale of society. During his residence here, 
he wrote his '^melanges politiques ;" which, like all his 
works, is distinguished for thought and great elegance and 
neatness of style. Whilst he was in England his father, 
Louis, ex-King of Holland, died at Florence. Louis 
Napoleon had, during his imprisonment, vainly petitioned 
Louis Philippe for permission to visit his dying father ; 
and on his arrival in England, after his escape from Ham, 
had endeavored to obtain passports from the Tuscan Am- 
bassador, but had been refused; so that he was deprived 
of the satisfaction of closing his father's eyes. 

The French Bevolution of 1848, and the Revolutions 
of Germany, Italy and Hungary in the same year, did 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 81 

not produce a revolution in steady, regular, sober-sided 
England. There were some popular demonstrations which 
alarmed good, easy souls. But the ministry of that day 
had sense enough to perceive that the multitude only 
wanted to exercise their lungs and muscles in the fine air 
of the southern suburbs of London. On the occasion of 
the 10th of April, when most uneasiness was felt in cer- 
tain classes of English society, the future Monarch of 
thirty-five millions of people served as a special constable, 
in conjunction with all the respectable portion of London. 
The troops were not called out ; the head of Government 
contenting himself with a heavy display of extra-police- 
men. The whole affair passed off pleasantly, and has 
ever since been regarded as a subject of mirth. Such a 
demonstration in Paris at this hour would bring Marshal 
Magnan down upon itself with artillery, infantry, and 
cavalry in powerful force. Such is the difference between 
the tone and temper of the two governments. 

At the May elections of 1848, Louis Napoleon was pro- 
posed as deputy to represent four different Departments in 
the National Assembly : Paris, Yonne, Cayenne, and Cor- 
sica. He was elected in all four of them by tremendous 
majorities. His first act, after his election was declared, 
was to publish an address to the electors of these Depart- 
ments, thanking them in elegant and graceful language 
for the honor bestowed. 

He wrote to the National Assembly also, informing 
them that he understood his name was beino; made a 
watchword for disorder, and a rallying-cry for anarchy, and 
avowing his willingness to resign his deputyship rather 

F 



82 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1869. 

than suffer such a use to be made of it. He had omitted 
to use the word "Republic," and a tremendous uproar 
broke out in the Chamber of Deputies in consequence 
thereof. 

The following description of the scene which ensued, 
when the proposition for his admission into the Assembly 
was made fro forma, will prove highly interesting, as it is 
racily and richly French : 

"On the 13th of June came on the great question proposed 
by the (Provisional) Government. M. Dagoussie, we are 
told, in a moment of silence (recorded as 'profound, re- 
ligious and solemn,') proposed the 'maintenance of the 
law of 1832, as regarded Louis Napoleon; in short, to 
banish the member elect for Paris, the Yonne and May- 
enne. We are perfectly convinced, in spite of all the 
other writers who have wielded the pen on this sub- 
ject, that it would have been fortunate for France, ultim- 
ately, had M. Dagoussie's motion been carried, and the 
Napoleon family been excluded. — The- report of the Com- 
mittee was read ; it was thus rendered, ' The Commission 
have decided that Louis Napoleon shall be admitted ' — and 
M. Jules Favre, in the moment of enthusiasm, mentioned 
the word 'Prince,' which was like an electric shock to 
the mountain, bringing down the thunder from above. 

"In vain M. Favre explained, — M. Ledru Rollin rolled 
backwards and forwards in his seat, like a quaker when 
the spirit is about to move him ; M. Flocon, who always 
did gesticulate, now gesticulated more furiously ; Lamar- 
tine angrily devoured a pen ; Marie appeared, like a law- 
yer, to consider the words as part of a client's case ; and 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 88 

M. Arago seemed to turn a deaf ear to any remark, and 
was amusing himself by reading a paper. But the thun- 
der had rolled, and continued to roll ; the whole Mountain 
were furious, and Ledru Rollin, no longer able to constrain 
his Republican spirit, turned the debate into a personality 
which terminated when M. Buchez, the representative of 
the Government, opposed the vote of the Committee, and 
accused Louis Napoleon of fostering the angry feelings 
manifested hourly in the streets. The debate was furious ; 
the name of the Prince de Joinville was mentioned ; but 
at length it terminated, — and in spite of its being declared 
that Louis Napoleon aspired to the Empire, his admission 
was carried by at least two-thirds of the Assembly." 

Louis Napoleon was reelected by five Departments, and 
took his seat in the National Assembly during the follow- 
ing September. He saw fit to pronounce a speech upon the 
occasion of his admission, which promised in most decided 
and emphatic tones fealty to France and the Republic, one 
and indivisible. His enemies were evidently not prepared 
for such a declaration from him. They had not calculated 
upon so much prudence, foresight, and self-control. 

This is a copy of that brief-pointed speech ; a speech 
which attracted attention and vigilant criticism, not only 
in France, but throughout the civilized world : 

"Citizen Representatives, — I cannot remain silent un- 
der the calumnies which are circulated against me. I wish 
to explain the sentiments which animate, and which will 
always animate me. After thirty years of exile and suf- 
fering, I again return to my country, and enjoy my rights 
as a French citizen. The Republic has done me this act of 



84 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

justice ; let her, then, receive my oath of devotion, and 
gratitude. 

" May the generous citizens who, by their votes, have 
placed me in this Assembly, be convinced that I regard 
tranquillity as the first and most urgent necessity of 
this country, and that I advocate democratic institutions, 
which I consider as the first wants of the people. 

"For a long time I have lived in exile, and have been 
unable to dedicate to the service of my country my 
thoughts and my studies. My career is open, my dear 
colleagues; receive me in your ranks with affectionate 
confidence. My conduct shall always be worthy of my 
name, and it shall prove to those who would exile me 
again, by their calumnies, that I wish, before all things, 
the defence of order, and the stability of the Republic. " 

The sharp, quick ear of the Parisians detected that the 
accent of the orator was slightly Germanic. Both Social- 
ists and Legitimists ridiculed him severely for this peculi- 
arity in his pronunciation. Stories about the Prince had 
long been current relative to his future aspirations and 
designs. It was affirmed that during exile, when asked if 
he would be satisfied with the Presidency of the Republic, 
he did not answer evasively or shirkingly. His response 
they declared was a firm and emphatic " No ; the Empire 
is my ambition." His friends at that day declared this 
report unfounded ; but, viewed through the light of the 
circumstances which have transpired in the last ten years 
in France, its truthfulness seems highly probable. 

The election for the presidency was now rapidly approach- 
ing. His name with that of the stern., iron-nerved, patriotic 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 85 

Cavaignac, Lamartine and those of half a dozen others, 
wild with Socialistic theories and red-hot with destructive- 
ness, were put forward for the chief magistracy. Napo- 
leon neither sought popularity nor did he spurn it. For 
fear he might be misrepresented, his motives maligned, 
his actions misconstrued, he remained quietly at the 
house of a friend during the pendency of thie contest. 
His only public act was to issue an address to the people 
of France. His friends, however, circulated likenesses of 
him, and addresses appealing to the love of the French 
for the memory of his uncle. 

It is useless to add that he was elected by an over- 
whelming majority. Yictor Hugo a bitter enemy, — a 
man utterly destitute of a practical knowledge of life or 
government, but one who has made the world ring with 
approbation of his genius, — now a sad exile in a foreign 
land, — thus quaintly describes his appearance and bearing 
upon the day on which he was inaugurated President, 
(being the 20th of December, 1848 : ) 

"It was about four in the afternoon. It was growing 
dark, and the immense hall of the Assembly having be- 
come involved in gloom, the chandeliers were lowered from 
the ceiling, and the candles were placed upon the tribune. 
The President made a sign ; a door on the right opened, 
and there was seen to enter the hall and rapidly ascend 
the tribune, a man still young, attired in black, having on 
his breast the badge of the Legion of Honor. All eyes 
were turned towards this man. His face, wan and 
pallid, its long emaciated angles developed in prominent 
relief by the shaded lamps, — his nose large and long, — 



86 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

his upper lip covered with mnstachios, — a lock of hair 
waving over a narrow forehead, — his ejes small and 
dull, — his attitude timid and anxious, bearing in no re- 
cpect a resemblance to the Emperor; — this man was the 
citizen Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

The oath was administered by the President of the 
Assembly, M. Marrast, under the most solemn and con- 
science-touching appeals to man and God to witness the 
holiness of the obligation which the new President assumed. 
How well he kept that oath let the coup d'etat of Decem- 
ber, 1851, testify. 

There are two anecdotes recorded of him, about this 
time, which indicate forcibly two of the striking peculi- 
arities of his character. When, after the affair of Stras- 
burg, Louis Philippe shipped him off to the United States 
he placed his person under the care of a French military 
officer of inferior grade whose name was Rebillot. That 
gentleman discharged the duties of his position with such 
marked delicacy that Napoleon never forgot it. Among 
the names of his first ministry occurs that of Col. Rebillot, 
as Prefet de Police. 

His first great military review took place on the 24th 
of December. He took up his position at the entrance to 
the Champs JElysees. After the National Guards had filed 
past him, came on the troops of the line. At their head 
was a division of Invalides. The leader of this division 
was the veteran General Petit, one of the great Emperor's 
most faithful military servitors. The (then) President 
left his staff, rode forward to the war-worn soldier, and 
said warmly : 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 87 

" General, the Emperor embraced you at his last review, 
I am happy to press your hand at my first review." 

Thus early, after his accession to power, he displayed 
his purpose of gaining the affections of the army, and his 
design of following closely in the footsteps of his uncle. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



lOUIS NAPOLEON AS PRESIDENT THE DIFFICULTIES OF HIS POSITION 

HOW HE QUELLED THE INSURRECTIONARY SPIRIT IN PARIS VIOLA- 
TIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION CONTEST WITH THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 

LEON FAUCHET NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DISSOLVED ITS SUCCESSOR 

REPUBLICANISM IN PARIS IN 1851 BOURBONS AND ORLEANISTS 

PRESIDENT VERSUS THE ASSEMBLY ST. ARNAUD PRESIDENTIAL 

PROCLAMATION 3IEETING OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ITS DISPER- 
SION OUDINOT BERRYER THE COUP d' ETAT LOUIS NAPOLEON's 

ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY FOR TEN YEARS ELEVATION TO THE 

EMPIRE HIS MARRIAGE CAROLA WASA OF SWEDEN ALLIANCE WITH 

ENGLAND WAR WITH RUSSIA THE EMPIRE ATTEMPTS AT ASSASSI- 
NATION — PIANORI AND ORSINI. 

"VYhex Louis Napoleon became President he had but 
ascended the first round upon the ladder of his ambition. 
Slowly and prudently, and therefore strongly, he began 
to lay, broadly and deeply, his plans for his further ele- 
vation. His first efi"ort, in which he was successful, was 
to conciliate the army and make it devoted to his fortunes. 
It was true he had many a stormy element to encounter, 
had to pass all the quicksands and shoals of Parisian 
capriciousness ; to set upon and subdue the boisterous, 
bloody Mountain; to bring Order out of the chaos of 
Revolution ; to quiet the minds of the people of France, 
and reassure them that there was sufficient stabilit}^, 
conservatism and virtue in society to preserve it. He jH 
managed this so steadily as to elicit confidence, excite WM 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 89 

hope, and rally around himself those who desired domes- 
tic peace, the preservation of property, and the protection 
of life. His name, amid all the wild tumults of his two 
years' Presidency, loomed up as a landmark of safety — a 
breakwater against the angry waves of discord — a symbol 
of future solidity and rest. 

This consideration, more than aught else, reconciled the 
French nation to his frequent violations of the Constitu- 
tion of 1848. This alone made them indififerent to the 
illegal suppression of the Clubs, and the restrictions which 
he was gradually drawing more closely around the freedom 
of the Press. He was now secure of the support of the 
middle classes of Paris, the Bourgeoisie, including the 
shop-keepers, manufacturers and others of the less promi- 
nent, but solid, portions of the community. 

He had a hard struggle with the National Assembly, 
which was in existence at the time he was inducted into 
office. Leon Fauchet, a renegade Orleanist, introduced 
on the 31st of May, 1849, a projet de loi, for the abolition 
of universal suffrage. It obtained the assent and approval 
of this Assembly. Shortly afterwards a dissolution of 
that body took place. At this the President and the 
members of his Cabinet had long aimed. He desired to 
get rid of their clamorous debates ; their impracticable 
theories ; their constant incitations to insurrection ; their 
oft-repeated thwarting of his purposes, and especially the 
heavy checks which their ceaseless free discussion of his 
measures placed upon his earnest desire to restore the 
Empire. 

This National Assembly, however, was dissolved only 



90 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

to be replaced by another, in which neither the Republi- 
cans nor Bonapartists had many friends. The Legitimists 
and Orleanists had a large majority. The President greatly 
preferred such an Assembly to the former. This one 
furnished merely intriguants, seeking to accomplish the 
restoration of rival branches of the Bourbon family. 
Proudhon, Raspail, and other lynx-eyed Republicans, were 
gone, never to return. 

The truth is that Republicanism, as an operative, vital 
force, had lost its power in Paris. The only elements 
possessing influence in that gay capital toward the close 
of the autumn of 1851, at least within the walls of the 
National Assembly, were purely dynastic. Orleans was 
Intriguing against Bourbon and Bonapartism, and Bourbon 
against Louis Philippe and Louis Napoleon. Doubtless 
the President rejoiced that the contest had resolved itself 
into such clearly and sharply defined limits. 

Both the dynastic influences were willing to unite their 
strength against him, in order to procure his displace- 
ment. Each would consent, after his removal, to trust to 
fortune or good management for the elevation of the par- 
ticular branch of exiled royalty which was preferable, ac- 
cording to his own particular predilection. The President 
foresaw that this moral contest could not last long. It 
would reach a crisis where physical force must be inter- 
posed to settle the questions of diff'erence. Accordingly 
he gave his confidence and imparted his plans to only four 
or five persons. Among these were De Morny, (supposed 
to be his illegitimate half brother,) Marshal Magnan, now 
commander of the army of Paris, Persigny, the present 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 91 

French Ambassador at London, and General St. Arnaud, 
■who died in the Crimea. 

The plot was met by a stronger counter-plot. St. Arnaud 
wrote to his mother after midnight, or rather before day 
dawned, on the morning of December 2d, 1851. 

" The insane, blind, factious Assembly will be dissolved. Paris will 
awaken in the morning, and the revolution will be accomplished. 
Some hundred arrests or so, the door of the Assembly closed, and all's 
done. I am waiting for the Commander of the troops, to give him my 
last orders. Every thing is ready. The ministry is changed, and I form 
part of the new one. The whole course of action, and the regulation of 
the material force depend on me." 

These were words issuing in a moment of confidence 
from the heart and brain of one of the arch-conspirators. 

Indeed, rumor, whether well or ill-founded, declares that 
Louis Napoleon felt so much relieved upon the announce- 
ment of his demise, that he expressed himself, contrary 
to his usual reserve, to his most select friends as gratified 
at the occurrence. 

St. Arnaud was right. Fifty thousand of the best troops 
of France lined the streets of Paris as the dawn broke. 
Huge placards covered the walls, exhibiting, in large let- 
ters, a decree of the future Emperor. It dissolved the 
National Assembly — restored Universal Sufirage — called 
upon the French people to assemble, in an electoral capa- 
city, between the 14th and the 21st of December — pro- 
claimed martial law, and dissolved the Council of State. 
It was short, sharp, and decisive. In another proclamation 
the President sought to vindicate his motives and action. 



92 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Few of the people cared aught about this exposition of his 
conduct. They knew that the army was with him ; that 
the old Generals had been removed ; that young Generals, 
fresh from Africa, had been promoted, over the heads of 
their senior officers, to the highest commands. 

Many of the members of the National Assembly came 
to their hall at the usual hour of meeting. The doors were 
closed, all attempts to go in by side entrances were opposed 
by armed soldiers. About three hundred of the members, 
acting in concert, went to the Hall of the 3faire of the 
Tenth Arrondissement (ward or district) in a most clamor- 
ous and disorderly way. They voted the deposition of 
their Chief Magistrate. They conferred the command of 
the army upon GenerS^l Oudinot, who is described by an 
eye-witness as " a little, bustling, fussy, mean-looking 
individual." 

When the great lawyer, Berryer, — the renowned Par- 
liamentary leader of the Legitimist Branch of the Bour- 
bons, brought Oudinot forward to announce to the loiter- 
ers around the hall, that this man had received the appoint- 
ment of Commander-in-Chief, yells of laughter and burst 
after burst of merriment saluted his ears. This man, the 
son of one of the great Napoleon's Generals, had permitted 
himself to be the tool of Louis Napoleon in overthrowing 
the Republicans at Rome. The Republicans of Paris 
could not forget this, and they could never forgive it. 
Hence Oudinot sacrificed his position both with the Re- 
publicans and the Emperor. He has since quietly dropped 
into the oblivion he so well deserved. 

The members of the National Assembly were dispersed 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 93 

by the soldiers of Louis Napoleon. Many arrests were 
made ; some blood was shed in the streets of Paris, in 
order to consolidate the approaching Empire. The coup 
d' etat was a fait accompli^ and France and the world was 
surprised at the coolness, courage and suddenness, with 
which the overthrow of the French Republic had been 
consummated. 

It was an undertaking which would have appalled an in- 
tellect of ordinary power. Now, for the first time, men 
began to realize the astounding force of character, the 
impenetrable reserve, the far-reaching sagacity of the 
President. He was no longer a dreamer, an enthusiast, a 
schemer, — but a man of the utmost hardness of will, of 
iron tenacity of purpose, of adamantine fixedness: — all 
this tremendous strength and energy was inter-penetrated, 
directed and controlled by common sense, sound discretion 
and well-regulated judgement. It may be said that all 
these were used for the promotion of selfish views and 
ambitious ends. Even if the truth of this charge be ad- 
mitted, and it cannot well be denied, it does not militate 
against the statement, that he is possessed of ability 
scarcely inferior in his capacity of a civil ruler to that of 
his great uncle. 

He then submitted his claims to France for a re-election 
to the Presidency for ten years. As no one else was per- 
mitted to be a candidate, his election was a foregone con- 
elusion. His uncle had played the same game with suc- 
cess, and why should he not repeat it? He knew the 
French nation well. His renewal of a melo-drama that 
1 ad been put upon the stage with such a magnificent 



94 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

effect, half a century before, with so great an artist in the 
leading character, he knew would "draw" prodigiously 
again. He knew that they liked striking contrasts, bril- 
liant coincidences, and splendid parallels. The result was 
not miscalculated. 

Scarcely had he been inducted into his second term 
of office when he began to shape and mould circumstances, 
so as to prepare the popular mind for the re-introduction 
of the Empire. Accordingly, during the summer and 
autumn of 1852, he made tours into several of the De- 
partments, and upon his return his chief adherents de- 
clared that the people everywhere desired the restoration 
of the Empire. They submitted the question to the peo- 
ple, who registered the decree of the Imperial will ; for his 
Court, his demonstrations, his power and influence, were 
Imperial in tone and display. 

The Empire thus became a finality. The next thing 
was to give an heir to his throne, so as to consolidate his 
power. Before this he had formed the acquaintance of 
the Countess de Teba. She had created a favorable im- 
pression upon him. With all his affected devotion to the 
people, he had strongly hankered after a royal alliance. 
His negotiations for the hand of Carola Wasa of Sweden 
had failed. The royal line of Jjernadotte, pa)%'enu though 
it was, refused his offer of Imperial dignity. 

Disgusted either with his failure or deeply enamored 
with Eugenie, his marriage with the latter was celebrated 
on the 29th of January, 1853, within a few weeks after 
the proclamation of the Empire. He had now reached a 
period when he had consolidated his purposes. The throne 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 95 

of France, — the throne of Napoleon the Great, — the 
French people were at his feet ; he had taken every pre- 
caution to secure the succession which prudence could 
suggest. His restless energies did not sujfFer him to lie 
supinely idle. There was an unsettled Eastern question 
relating to 'Hhe Holy Places." Russia had put forward 
claims conflicting with those held by France. Besides, 
Russia had been largely instrumental in overthrowing the 
Napoleonic dynasty. Could he not repay her a portion 
of her indebtedness to his family? He knew that if his 
people were not employed abroad in some field of action, 
commensurate with their immense capacities, they might 
conspire at home. As the head of the State and fountain 
of authority, he would naturally be the object at which 
every conspirator would aim. 

It was exceedingly opportune for him that Russia had 
determined to seize upon certain Provinces of the Turkish 
Empire. England, as the old friend and ally of Turkey, 
was induced to prevent this seizure, even at the risk of 
war. France was easily persuaded by her to join in this 
new crusade for the preservation of the balance of power in 
Europe. The French claims, relative to ''the Holy 
Places," were gracefully yielded, and the cause of ''Euro- 
pean safety against universal conquest" was put forward 
as the pretext of the Emperer for the formation of the 
Anglo-French alliance. 

The contest in and around Sebastopol was protracted, 
obstinate, and bloody. No siege of mc«iern times has oc- 
casioned such a display of engineering skill, bull-dog 
courage, and such a waste of human life. Here again 



S6 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

the sagacity of Napoleon was shown. He caused Russia 
to be attacked at a point of vital importance in her south- 
ward progress toward further dominion. He brought 
about the ruin of her best fleet, her strongest fortress, and 
vast magazines of military stores and ordnance. Sebas- 
topol was distant from Moscow many hundred miles, and 
supplies of ammunition, provisions or men, could not 
reach it except after the longest and most expensive land 
transportation. Sebastopol was within a week's steaming 
of the Coast of France. Russia's exchequer was ex- 
hausted by the incalculable expenses incurred by such 
transportation, and it was more from this cause than from 
her defeats at Alma, Balaklava and Inkerman, — more 
than from the storming of the Mamelon, Malakofi" and the 
Redan, — that the Czar was forced to sue for peace and 
submit. Russia may appear, for the nonce, to have forgot- 
ten it, because she hates England more bitterly than she 
hates France. Her day for retribution, however distant, 
will surely come. The Romanoffs neither forget nor pardon. 
Louis Napoleon, by the Crimean War, somewhat repaid to 
Russia the debt of gratitude his uncle owed to her from 
the campaign of 1812. It is fair to presume that he will 
square the account of the same distinguished personage 
with Austria ere this campaign closes. 

Since the conclusion of peace with Russia, and up till 
the present war, he seems to have directed his attention 
particularly to the promotion of the commercial, manufac- 
turing, agricultural and rail road interests of France. All 
the material interests of France have certainly made great 
progress under his auspices. He has spent vast portions 



# 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 97 

of the annual revenue of France in completing and equip- 
ping maritime fortresses, and in increasing and strength- 
ening his navy. 

There have been no attempts on part of his enemies, for 
years back, to make insurrectionary demonstrations against 
his government, either in the capital or Provinces. Those 
of a lower grade, who are the disciples and followers of the 
Louis Blanc-Proudhon-Cabet-Barbes-Blanqui school, have 
contented themselves with resorting to the more cowardly 
process of assassination. Pianori and Orsini have failed 
in their several attempts, and the "man of destiny" still 
lives ; lives to head an army upon the plains where, and 
against the same enemies over whom, his uncle won such 
glorious victories. 



G 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FAMILY OF NAPOLEON III. — THE EMPRESS EUGENIE — HER ANCESTRY 

AND BIRTH — HER PERSONAL CHARMS PECULIAR TRAITS OF CHARACTER 

UNBLEMISHED REPUTATION HER COURAGE PRINCE JEROME HER 

CONFIDENTIAL COUNSELLOR HIS MARRIAGE WITH MISS PATTERSON 

HIS SON HIS GRANDSON DIVORCE PRINCESS FREDRIKA. CAROLINE 

OF WURTEMBURG ELEVATION TO THE THRONE OF WESTPHALIA OB- 
TAINS MONEY FROM THE JEWS QUARREL WITH NAPOLEON ABANDONS 

HIS KINGDOM WATERLOO NAPOLEON' S EXILE THE FATHER-IN-LAW 

OF JKR03IE TITLE OF PRINCE MONTFERT RESIDENCE IN FLORENCE 

IN PARIS MARSHAL OF FRANCE PRINCE ROYAL PRESIDENT OF THE 

COUNCIL OF REGENCY PRINCE NAPOLEON HIS BIRTH EDUCATION 

VISIT TO PARIS MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY QUAR- 
REL WITH LOUIS NAPOLEON AMBASSADOR TO MADRID DISMISSAL 

SENATOR MAJOR GENERAL IN CRIMEA ATTACK UPON THE 

PLAN OF THE WAR EXPEDITION TO THE POLAR SEAS HIS VILLA 

UNFITNESS FOR MILITARY AFFAIRS APPOINTMENT TO ALGIERS 

HIS MARRIAGE THE PRINCESS MATHILDE HER BIRTH CHARACTER 

IN EARLY LIFE AFFIANCED TO THE PRESENT EMPEROR HER MARRIAGE 

PRINCE DEMIDOFF SEPARATION PRESIDES AT THE COURT OF LOUIS 

NAPOLEON VICTOR EMANUEL's PASSION HER RESIDENCE SONS OF 

LUCIEN AND JOSEPH LUCIEN BONAPARTE PIERRE BONAPARTE SER- 
VICE UNDER SANTANDER CHARACTER DESERTION DEGRADATION 

PRESENT RESIDENCE JOACHIM MURAT HIS CHARACTER ASPIRA- 
TIONS TO THE THRONE OF NAPLES — ALBONI — THE SON OF JOACHIM 
MURAT. 

Eugenie, Empress of the French, is the daughter of the 
Count and Countess de Montijo. She was born Maj 5th, 
1826, or according to some authorities in 1824. Her 
father died in 1823. Though she is a posthumous child 

98 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 99 

it is difficult to account for this discrepancy in dates ! It 
is of no importance however, and it is perhaps better not 
to seek to investigate the mystery! Mme. de Montijo 
was the daughter of Mr. Fitzpatrick, English Consul at 
Malaga. Eugenie therefore unites in her person the ad- 
vantages and characteristics of the English and Spanish 
races, whilst education has endowed her with all the graces 
and accomplishments of a French woman. That she is 
beautiful, fascinating, intellectual and agreeable, the sim- 
ple fact of her marriage testifies. Louis Napoleon would 
scarcely have elevated to the throne a private gentlewoman 
if she had not possessed the most captivating qualities. 
In Paris, in the year 1851, Mile, de Montijo, who took 
the title of Countess de Teba, made a sensation — in Paris 
she became the fashion. Speaking several languages, the 
distinguished of all countries gathered round her — her 
beauty was delicate and fair, from her English ancestry, 
whilst her grace was all Spanish, and her wit all French. 
These made her one of the most remarkable women in the 
French capital, though her independence of character and 
her English habits imparted to her more liberty of action 
than the restraints imposed on French demoiselles allow, 
and therefore exposed her to remark. There is not one 
well authenticated adventure that can be told to her dis- 
advantage. The Empress, besides her brilliant qualities, 
which make her the most lovely sovereign of Europe, is 
kind and generous ; and in the few opportunities that have 
occurred to test her higher qualities, has displayed great 
courage and sense. Such, for instance, was her refusal 
to appropriate the enormous sum voted to her by the city 



100 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of Paris, for the purchase of diamonds. She dedicated 
it to the foundation of a charitable institution for the 
education of young girls belonging to the working classes. 
On the night of the desperate attempt to assassinate the 
Emperor, at the French opera, she was calm and firm, 
and showed at once her courage and her affection by 
throwing herself before the Emperor, so as to shield him, 
when the carriage door was suddenly opened by one whom 
she deemed an assassin. So that from the past, the Em- 
press may be considered as fully competent to fulfil the 
important duties confided to her as Regent of France, 
during the absence of her husband, nor is it to be feared 
that, placed in emergencies such as was Marie Louise, she 
would act with the same weakness and unfaithfulness to 
her trust. 

The confidential counsellor of the Empress, by order of 
the Emperor, is his only surviving uncle, Jerome, youngest 
brother of Napoleon I., and formerly King of Westphalia. 
Jerome began his career in the French navy. In 1803, 
being on a cruise, he put into New York, and going to 
Baltimore there married Miss Elizabeth Patterson. But 
Napoleon, who had sought princely alliances for himself 
and his brothers, highly disapproved of this marriage, 
and the young wife, though she sailed for Europe, was 
never allowed to put her foot on the French soil. She 
went to England, where she gave birth to a son, and her 
marriage having been dissolved, she afterwards returned 
to America, where her son married. Her grandson, a 
Lieutenant in the service of the United States, has since 
the establishment of the Empire gone to France, where he 



.9 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 101 

was well received by the Emperor. He has entered the 
French service, and has been promoted to the rank of 
Major, and is now with the army in Italy, serving in the 
First Regiment of the Chasseurs d! Afrique. He was de- 
corated by the Emperor, for his gallant conduct in the 
Crimea, with the cross of the Legion of Honor. 

Though destined for the navy, Jerome's predilections 
were for the army ; accordingly he was given the command 
of the Bavarian and Wurtemburg troops, with which he 
reduced the fortresses of Silesia, and was made a General 
of Division. 

Jerome, who had been much attached to the young wife 
of his choice, for some time refused to listen to Napoleon's 
projects of matrimonial alliance; at length, however, he 
consented to a second marriage, with the Princess Fred- 
rika Caroline, daughter of the King of Wurtemburg, a 
Princess whom he knew and for whom he had the highest 
esteem. Soon after his marriage he was made King of 
Westphalia. By an adroit negotiation he replenished his 
exhausted exchequer. He obtained a heavy loan from 
the Jews, giving as an equivalent for their money the 
right of free worship in his dominions, a privilege they 
much coveted, and of which they had been deprived. 

In the disastrous campaign of Russia, the King of West- 
phalia incurred the displeasure of his brother the Emperor, 
and retired to his dominions until the battle of Leipsic, 
when he abandoned them and joined the Queen at Munich. 
Faithful, however, to the Emperor, he joined him at Water- 
loo, and distinguished himself by prodigies df valor. When 
all was lost, faithful still, he accompanied the Emperor to 



^.^« 



102 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Paris, and after the decision of the English Government 
to send him to St. Helena, Jerome entreated, but in vain, 
to be allowed to share his brother's exile. This being de- 
nied him, and the fortunes of his house lost, Jerome joined 
the ex-Queen, and they were allowed to reside near Venice, 
and some time after at Trieste, without molestation. His 
father-in-law, the King of Wurtemburg, conferred on him 
the title of Prince de Montfort, under which title he was 
known until the advent of the second Empire. He finally 
fixed his residence in Florence. Jerome had been too 
young to have opportuities of enriching himself like the 
other members of his family. The fall of the Empire found 
him poor, his chief resource being a pension which his 
wife received from her father, the King of Wurtemburg. 
He lived in splendor in Florence. Here his three 
children were born, of whom only Mathilde and Napoleon 
survive. Here, in 1836, his wife, the Princess Fredrika, 
with whom he had lived in the greatest harmony and hap- 
piness, died. But a pension given him by his daughter, the 
Countess Demidoflf, supplied the place of the income that 
died with the former wife. He continued to live in com- 
fort and affluence until 1847, when he obtained permission 
from Louis Philippe to take up a temporary residence in 
Paris. Here gradually Jerome continued to rally around 
him (just as Louis Philippe had done at the Palais Royal 
with the elder Bourbons,) all the disaffected, and so to 
prepare partizans for his nephew. Although the revolu- 
tion of 1848, which drove Louis Philippe from the throne, 
w^ould have o<*urred from other causes, there is no doubt 
but that Jerome's judicious management had contributed 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 103 

to inspire the multitude witli a yearning towards the Bona- 
parte dynasty. His nephew, Louis Napoleon, recognized 
and rewarded his devotion by appointing him, in 1848, 
Governor of the Invalides, and Marshal of France. 

In 1851, he was still further honored by being reinstated 
in his rights as a Prince of the royal blood ; in recogni- 
tion of which rights he was allowed a suitable establish- 
ment, and a separate civil list — the Palais Royal in Paris, 
and Meudon, and Yilliers le Bel, being assigned as his 
residences. In the present organization of the Regency, 
Prince Jerome is President of the Council. 

Prince Napoleon Joseph Charles, his son, known as 
Prince Napoleon, is, in default of the direct issue of the 
Emperor, heir to the throne of France. Born at Trieste in 
1822, he began his education at Geneva, and then entered 
the military college of Wurtemburg , to the royal family 
of which Kingdom he was allied by the marriage of his 
father. Refusing to engage in a foreign service, consider- 
ing himself a French Prince, be declined the military rank 
offered to him. His education being completed, he set off 
on a lengthy tour through Europe, sojourning for some 
time in Spain, during the time Espartero was in power. 
In 1845, he obtained permission to visit Paris, but his 
liberal and democratic principles, openly expressed, alarm- 
ed the Government, and he received an order to leave the 
French capital. 

At the fall of Louis Philippe, Prince Napoleon placed 
himself at the disposal of the Provisional Government, and 
openly avowed his sympathies for the Republic. Being 
elected by Corsica to the Assemblee Oonstituente, he main- 



104 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

tained the same principles, always voting witli the Republi- 
can and Liberal party. In 1849, he was appointed Minister 
Plenipotentiary to Madrid, but having left his post without 
leave, he received a severe reprimand, and was deprived 
of his functions. Irritated by this act of authority, he 
became still more embittered against the Government. 
But gradually, seeing the increasing power of his cousin, 
he subsided into an obstinate and dogged silence, till at 
length he withdrew from public life. Great coldness ex- 
isted between the two cousins, still, when Louis Napoleon 
became Emperor, (Prince Napoleon being, by the course 
of nature, direct heir to the throne,) he was forced to take 
his position at Court. A reconciliation was effected, and 
Prince Napoleon took his appropriate place in the Senate, 
and received the grade of General of Division, though he 
had never seen active service. 

During the Crimean war he served at Alma and Inker- 
man, but without distinguishing himself. He returned to 
Paris, and amused himself by writing a bitter and spirited 
attack upon the plan of the Crimean war, as sketched out 
by his cousin. This brochure was published at Brussels, 
and of course did not tend to increase the friendship be- 
tween the cousins. Prince Napoleon is a ripe scholar, 
and is fond of the arts and sciences. He was appointed, 
in 1855, Imperial Commissioner at the Exposition Uni- 
verselle. 

In 1857, he undertook a voyage to the Polar seas, in 
the corvette La Heine Hortense. He wrote a book con- 
taining an account of every thing he saw and did during 
the voyage. In a scientific point of view it amounts to 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 105 

nothing. He has built, to the great admiration of the 
Parisians, a Roman villa in the Champs Eljs^es ; in which 
the distribution of the rooms and the furniture is entirely 
modelled on the classical descriptions which have come 
down to us of a Roman residence. In this villa the guests 
are served a la Romaine^ and all the Roman customs are 
observed. 

Prince Napoleon, though a man of intelligence, is en- 
tirely wanting in dignity of character. Above all, he is 
totally devoid of a love of military glory, and has neither 
the tact or talents for military command. Some have 
even gone so far as to think that courage was wanting. 
From this cause he is a constant object of ridicule to the 
French people. In order to distinguish him from the 
Emperor, and at once to characterize his unstable and 
trivial character the vox populi has surnamed him " Plou, 
Plou!" a sort of childish diminutive of the name of 
Napoleon. 

In 1858, he was appointed to the Government of Algiers, 
but declined to accept the appointment, imagining, pro- 
bably the truth, that Louis Napoleon was desirous of 
getting rid of him. He married, in 1859, the Princess 
Clothilde, daughter of the King of Sardinia ; an alliance 
which was almost immediately followed by the declaration 
of war with Austria. Prince Napoleon will, no doubt, be 
the King of one of the new divisions, if any are carved 
out in Italy. He is at present Commander of the 5th 
Corps d'Armee of the French army in Italy. His head 
quarters are at Genoa. 

The Princess Mathilde, sister of the Prince and daughter 



106 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of Jerome, was born at Trieste, 1820. She was educated 
principally in Florence, and was renowned for beauty, 
refinement of manner, and accomplishments. She was de- 
voted to her father, and her conduct as a daughter and a 
woman, previous to her marriage, is spoken of by all in 
the highest strains of eulogium. A great many of the 
exiled Bonaparte family had settled in Florence, and there, 
after the reconciliation of Hortense and Louis, Mathilde was 
thrown into a constant companionship with her cousin, the 
present Emperor of France. There is no doubt that a juve- 
nile but profound attachment existed between them, and 
that, with the approbation of their families, they were affianc- 
ed to each other. But Louis Napoleon's political career 
separated them ; nor was he, with the ambitious views he 
evidently entertained, then in a position to marry. He, 
however, frequently refers to her in his private letters dur- 
ing his wandering life, with afi'ection and regret. As far 
as can be judged by appearances, Mathilde was faithful to 
him, and did not abandon the hope of becoming his wife 
until after he was imprisoned in Ham. 

She then, in 1841, being twenty-six, became the wife 
of Prince Demidoff. Much as the motive has been hack- 
neyed in novels and plays, there is but little doubt after 
all that Mathilde married for her father s sake. They 
were poor, and dependent on relations since the death of 
her mother, the Princess of Wurtemburg. The proof that 
her. father's welfare was one of the great inducements to 
this union lies in the fact, that she stipulated that Prince 
Demidoff should pay her father a handsome annuity. This 
annuity was only declined when Jerome became, at the 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 107 

beginning of the second Empire, Governor of tlie Inva- 
lides. The Princess' marriage was not a happy one. The 
secrets of its discords are not known. Probably there 
were faults on both sides. Prince Anatole Demidoff is, 
however, undeniably, although a great scholar, a man of 
peculiar and eccentric habits. 

Before the marriage of the Emperor, the Princess Ma- 
thilde did the honors of the Court, and proved that she 
was fully adequate for the high position she occupied. 
Much has been said about her gallantries and her liaisons, 
but scandal has never attached to them any individual 
name. 

The King of Sardinia was excessively smitten with the 
Princess Mathilde during his visit to Paris, and encouraged 
by the reports of her coquetries, is said to have made such 
boisterous declarations of his admiration that a royal hint 
made him curtail his visit. The Princess resides chiefly 
at St. Gratien, a charming residence about ten miles from 
Paris, situated on the lake d'Enghein in the vicinity of 
Montmorency. 

The rest of the Bonaparte family, (not the Imperial^) 
consists of the descendants of Joseph and Lucien, brothers 
of Napoleon. Those who have entered political life are 
the children of Lucien, and brothers of the Prince of 
Canino. Lucien Bonaparte, another of the Prince of 
Canine's sons, was a member of the Assemhlee Constituente. 
He sustained his cousin's views, and after the establish- 
ment of the Empire received the title of Prince of the 
blood ; though not considered as belonging to the branch 



108 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

called tlie Imperial, Lucien, the brother of Napoleon, hav- 
ing repudiated all allegiance to the first Emperor. 

Pierre Bonaparte, third son of Prince Canino, is in 
person the most like his illustrious uncle of all the Bona- 
parte family. In 1832, he joined his uncle Joseph in the 
United States, and took service under General Santander 
in South America. On his return to Italy he opposed the 
Papal GoA^ernment, and was imprisoned at San Angelo. 
Recovering his liberty he proceeded to London, after 
trying to raise a revolt in Albania. He had, en route, 
offered his services to Mehemet Ali, who declined them. 

Eighteen hundred and forty-eight found him at the ral- 
lying point of the Bonapartists, that is, Paris. He was 
elected to the Assemhlee Constituente, and took his seat on 
the extreme left. His violence, however, elicited frequent- 
ly the anger of his opponents, and at the same time destroy- 
ed the confidence of his own party in him. He opposed the 
coup d' etdt, which, of course, since the Empire was de- 
clared, has placed him^ in a difiicult position with regard to 
the Emperor. 

Impulsive and giddy, he gave proof of insubordination 
in abandoning his post at the siege of Zaatcha, or in other 
words, deserting just before the assault. M. de Hautpoul, 
then Minister of War, degraded him from his rank ; a 
measure in which he was sustained by the Assemhlee, 
After these escapades, when the Empire was proclaimed, M. 
Pierre Bonaparte retired from public life, for which he is 
not at all fitted. He now devotes himself to field sports 
in the Island of Corsica. He chiefly resides there. Pierre 
Bonaparte is not wanting in personal courage. He would 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 109 

make a good leader in an ^meute, or in a hand to hand fight. 
He is totally restive under discipline, and knows no sub- 
ordination either civil or military. His Italian sympa- 
thies are democratic and lead him into as violent opposition 
to the Royal Liberators of Italy as he has to its present 
oppressors. 

Besides these members of the Bonaparte family, there 
is a son of Napoleon's sister Caroline, born in 1803, and 
of Murat, former King of Naples. His name is Joachim. 
After the death of his father and the fall of the Empire, 
he continued to reside in Italy till 1824, when he embarked 
for the United States. In 1827, he married Miss Caro- 
line Fraser and met many vicissitudes of fortune. Eor 
some years he lived in great poverty, his only resources 
consisting in what he obtained from a school kept by his 
wife. On hearing tidings of the revolution of 1848, Murat 
hastened to Europe, and was elected a member of the 
Assemblee Constituent e^ and in 1849, was sent as Minister 
to Turin. After the coup d' etat the title of Prince of 
the Boyal Blood was conferred on him. He is a man of 
fine character and considerable intellect. He is most 
irreproachable in the relations of private life. 

In 1855, an Italian Liberal Party proposed to place 
Prince Murat on the throne of Naples, but Murat, in a 
letter to the Italian patriot, his brother-in-law, Count Pe- 
poli, declares "his intention of never striving to obtain the 
throne by stratagem or force. If it comes, it must come 
by the will of the People." As this has not yet mani- 
fested itselfy the Prince continues to reside in Paris. By 
a singular coincidence Mile. Alboni, the great singer, is 



110 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

allied bj marriage to this part of tlie Bonaparte family, — 
LetitiaMurat, daughter of the ex-King of Naples and her- 
self having married brothers, the Marquis and the Count 
Pepoli of Bologna. 

Prince Murat's eldest son was born in 1831, and is Lieu- 
tenant in the Regiment des Guides. Prince Murat has 
several other children. 



CHAPTER X. 

C03IMANDING OFFICERS UNDER NAPOLEON — COUNT BARAGUAY d'HILLIERS — 

BIRTH EDUCATION FIRST MILITARY SERVICE MILITARY EXPLOITS 

POLITICAL OPINIONS — -CHARACTER COUNT BANDON GEN'l MAR- 

CHAND AND NAPOLEON I. ALGIERS MILITARY TALENTS AND CHAR- 
ACTER GEN'l ADOLPHE NEIL BRILLIANT CAREER CHARACTER 

GEN'L CANROBERT CONSTANTINE AND AFRICAN CAMPAIGN AID-DE- 
CAMP TO THE EMPEROR CANROBERT AND ST. ARNAUD PRINCE NAPO- 
LEON THE CRIMEA HIS CHARACTER AND CAPACITY MC'mAHON 

ORIGIN CONSTANTINE THE REDAN CHARACTER AND CAPACITY 

MARSHAL VALLIANT — BIRTH — EXPLOITS — SERVICES IN ALGIERS ROME 

CHARACTER AND CAPACITY PELISSIER BIRTH EXPLOITS AL- 
GIERS CRIMEA CHARACTER AND CAPACITY GEN'l FOREY ALGIERS 

CRIMEA CAREER CAPACITY. 

There is scarcely any part of a historical book read 
with as much avidity as those chapters which contain 
biographies of prominent military leaders. This procliv- 
ity of the general reader arises from the fact that around 
the military operations centre all the interest and all the 
intensity of feeling which are begotten by every great 
war ; for it is by these operations the result of the war is 
determined. Each great commander is a prominent actor 
in the arena. In proportion to what he achieves is the 
interest felt in him. Should he win half a dozen dif- 
ferent battles over separate and different armies he rises 
into first-rate importance. If he is the leader in some ter- 
rible onslaught, in which a celebrated fortress is taken, or 
111 



112 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of some brilliant cavalry charge by which a great victory 
is achieved, he is ever an object of immense public atten- 
tion and eulogium. Each act of his past career, the most 
trifling incidents of his life, are sought after and read with 
interest and curiosity. 

This new war will naturally develope new men, or at least 
place those who are known more prominently before the 
world than they have heretofore been. Many, in various 
grades of commands, when the war broke out, will neces- 
sarily be prominent in the first great movements, and their 
history is already of surpassing interest. 

The first series of Commanders in natui'al order would 
be the French. There are present with the Emperor in 
Italy four Commanders of Corps d'Armee, as well as Mar- 
shal Vaillant, who have already won distinction upon 
other fields of action. There must be added the name 
of the Duke of Malakofi", though he is Commander-in- 
Chief of the army of observation upon the Rhine. 

The first in order, is Achille Count Baraguay d'Hilliers, 
Commander of the first Corps d'Arr)iee of the army in Italy. 
He was born at Paris, on the 6th of September, 1795. 
He is the son of General Louis Baraguay d'Hilliers, who 
was born in 1764, and died in 1813, at Berlin, just after the 
close of the Russian Campaign, it is said, of a broken heart 
in consequence of his having excited the anger of Napo- 
leon I. He served his country well, whether she was gov- 
erned by a King, a Directory, a Consulate or an Emperor. 

His son now in Italy, was a soldier from infancy, and 
may almost be said to have been born and bred amid 
the din and clangor of arms. He was appointed a Sub- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 113 

Lieutenant in a troop of horse in 1812. At the battle of 
Leipsic he lost his left arm. In consequence of this, he 
was called by the Arabs, "Bou Dra," — the father of the 
one arm. He became Captain in 1815. Having joined 
the party of the Restoration, or, in other words, having 
identified himself with the cause of Louis XVIIL, he be- 
came involved in several political duels. In 1827 he was 
appointed Lieutenant-Colonel, and was in the expedition- 
ary force despatched against Algiers in 1830. For his ser- 
vices at the siege of that city he was made Colonel. 

In 1832 he was attached to the Military School of 
St, Cyr, as second in command. Whilst there, he sup- 
pressed a Republican movement among the students, and 
thereby obtained the confidence of Louis Philippe's Gov- 
ernment. Shortly after he acquired the rank of Marshal 
of the Camp, and assumed the chief command of the 
School. At this post he continued until the end of 1840. 
In the following year he was placed at the disposal of the 
Governor-General of Algiers. He assisted in several ex- 
peditions against the Arabs. 

The Duke d'Aumale, fourth son of Louis Philippe, served 
under him in Africa. He attests the bravery of the Prince 
in his report upon the fall of Thaza. In August, 1843, 
he attained the rank of Lieutenant-General. In 1844 he 
appears to have fallen somewhat into disgrace with the 
King, for he was placed upon half-pay. 

D'Hilliers was Inspector-General of infantry in the 
French Army, from 1847 to the revolutionary outbreak 
of the following year. The Provisional Government con- 
fided to him the command of the military division of Ee- 

H 



114 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

sangon. His opposition to the wild theories and crude 
ideas of Ledrii Rollin procui-ed for him an election to the 
Constituent Assembly, from the Department of Doubs. 
Dui'ino: the disturbances at Paris, on the loth of Mav, 
1848, he offered his services to the Executive Commission, 
but, until the insurrection of June, he did not accept the 
command offered to him by General Cavaignac. 

In the Assembly, he voted generally with the Right or 
Conservative section. Occasionally he voted with the 
Mountain. One of his votes, against the resolution of 
thanks to General Cavaignac for his conduct in the sup- 
pression of the June rebellion, excited a great deal of at- 
tention at that time. 

After the election of the 10th of December, 1848, 
d'Hilliers associated himself with all the repressive mea- 
sures which were taken by Rebillot, the Chief of Police, 
against the Press and the Clubs. He was aojain elected 
by the Department of Doubs to the Legislative Assembly. 
In that body his politics were that of the Elysee — in- 
tensely Napoleonic. 

He was sent to Rome in 1849 to replace d'Hautpoul, 
and took measures to confirm the authority of the Pope. 
Upon his return to France, in 1857, he was named to the 
command of the Army of Paris, in place of General 
Changarnier. This change of commanders provoked a vote 
of a want of confidence, on part of the Assembly, toward 
the Minister Baroche. In this resolution, however, they 
expressed the utmost respect for Count d'Hilliers. Six 
months afterwards he resigned his temporary command, 
on account of the law making the performance of such 
duties incompatible with a seat in the Assembly. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 115 

He favored the coup d'etdt, and was in consequence 
named member of the Consultative Commission. When 
war broke out between the Allied Powers and Russia, he 
was appointed to head the expeditionary corps ordered by 
Louis Napoleon to the Baltic, to cooperate with Sir Charles 
Napier's fleet. He reduced the fortress of Bomarsund. 
This success procured him a Marshal's baton, and there- 
fore admission into the French Senate. He was one of 
the four Vice-Presidents of that body. On the 11th of 
December, 1850, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor 
was conferred upon him. 

He is now sixty-four years of age. He seems rather to 
be regarded as a stern, war-worn soldier, not gifted with 
much strategical skill, but cool and cautious, and en- 
dowed with all the qualities of a hard fighter. 

The next upon the list of prominent French commanders 
in Italy is Count Jacques Bandon, Marshal of France. 
He^ was born at Grenoble, on the 25th of March, 1795, 
and is a nephew of General Marchand, who was Military 
Commandant at Grenoble when Napoleon reached that 
city, on his way from Elba to Paris, in 1815, and was ac- 
cused of having yielded too readily to the Emperor. He 
had been attached to him by honors conferred, by long 
service and association, and had no love for the Bourbons. 
It was, therefore, scarcely possible for him to resist the 
appeal made to him by his old and renowned leader. 

Marshal Bandon early began his military career. He 
served with the Grand Army in the campaign in Bussia, 
in Saxony, and in France, in 1813. He was made sub- 
Lieutenant of infantry after the great battle of Borodino, 



116 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

fouglit under the walls of Moscow. During tlie campaign 
of ISIS, lie was promoted, in rapid succession, to a First- 
Lieutenancy and Captaincy. He received two balls at the 
battle of Lutzen. 

He took a leading part in the Hundred Days. His de- 
votion to the fortunes of the Emperor prejudiced his ad- 
vancement with the Bourbons. But the Government of 
July repaired the neglect of the Restoration toward him. 
In 1830 he was made Chef d' Escadron of the 30th regiment 
of Chasseurs. In 1838, he attained a Colonelcy in the 
well-known Chasseurs d'Afrique. 

For ten years he took a leading part in all the principal 
expeditions against the Arabs. In 1841, he obtained the 
title of Marshal of the Camp, by brevet, and in 1847 that 
of Lieutenant-General. His conspicuous gallantry in the 
field, and the kindness of the Orleans Princes, contributed 
to this unusually rapid advancement. 

He was acting Governor-General of Algiers under the 
Provisional Government of 1848. In June of that year 
he was appointed to the command of the third military 
division then stationed at Metz. He was called to take 
charge of the port-folio of war in January, 1851, and held 
office until the following October. Soon after the disper- 
sion of the National Assembly, and the assumption of ab- 
solute power by Napoleon, he was appointed to the Go- 
vernment of Algiers, and served in that capacity until the 
reorganization of that Colony in 1858. The last expedi- 
tion against the Kabyles, in 1857, was directed by him. 
They were forced into complete submission. 

In 1852 he was elevated to the Senatorship ; having 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 117 

been made a grand officer of ''The Legion of Honor" 
two years before. It was not until 1856 that he attained 
the rank of Marshal of France. He is said to have been 
greatly gratified at the conferment of this last title. He 
has ever been a devoted Bonapartist. He is regarded as 
a brave and skillful officer. His strategetic qualities are 
regarded by military men as being of a higher order than 
those of Count d'Hilliers. 

Next is General Adolj^he Niel, born 1802. Some 
allege that he was born in Ireland. It is most probable 
that he was born in France, and, as his name indicates, 
is of Irish extraction. In 1821 he was admitted into the 
Polytechnic School, and two years after to the School of 
Practice at Metz. He attained a Lieutenancy in the corps 
of engineers in 1827, and in 1835 a Captaincy. During 
the following year he took part in the siege of Constan- 
tine, w^here he particularly distinguished himself. For 
this service he reached the rank of a Chef de Battalion, and 
obtained the congratulations of the Minister of War. 
Ever since, he has been regarded as one of the most bril- 
liant officers in the French Army. In 1846 he became 
Colonel. He was attached, in 1849, to the Expedition 
against Rome as Chief of the Staif of Engineers. There 
he rendered such services that within two months after the 
siege began, he was first named a General of Brigade, and 
soon after a General of Division. 

When war was declared against Russia, General Neil 
accompanied General d'Hilliers as Chief of Engineers in 
his expedition to the Baltic. At the siege of Bomarsund 
he acquired additional renown, and was appointed Aid-de- 



118 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

camp to the Emperor. He afterwards visited the Crimea 
to obtain minute information concerning the progress of 
the siege, and the state of the army. His advice was, to 
invest Sebastopol completely on all sides, and to assault it 
from the side of the Malakoff. He then took command of 
the corps of Engineers, a post he ought to have been sent 
to three months sooner. Thus, in reality, he not only had 
a large share in directing the operations of the Allied 
Army, but suggested the line of action which was event- 
ually successful. His immediate reward was a Grand 
Cross of the Legion of Honor. There is no doubt that 
he will achieve for himself a magnificent reputation, should 
the present war continue long. 

We now reach General Francois Certain Canrobert. 
He was born in 1809, of a good family, in Brittany. His 
patrimony is limited, amounting to only 5,000 francs per 
year. In 1826 he entered the military school of St. Cyr, 
and having distinguished himself there, he entered the 
army as a private soldier, and was made a sub-Lieutenant 
in the 47th Regiment of the line, in 1828. He became a 
Lieutenant in 1832, and three years afterwards went to 
Algiers. Immediately after he arrived he joined the 
famous expedition against the Mascara. He took part, 
successively, in the storming of Heman, and in the battles 
with Sidi Yacoub at Tafiha and Sikkak. He was com- 
missioned as a Captain in 1837. 

At the siege of Constantine he received a wound in the 
knee. Col. Combes, a brave and gallant officer, fell at 
his side, whilst they were both fighting in the breach. 
The dying Frenchman exclaimed to Marshal Vallee '' That 
ofiicer [Canrobert] has a grand future before him." 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 119 

Soon after, he received the decoration of the Legion of 
Honor. In 1839 he returned to France, and was directed 
to form the wreck of the Carlist bands into a battalion 
for the Foreign Legion. Upon his return to Algiers, in 
1841, he became distinguished for the great coolness and 
active energy displayed by him in the many adventurous 
expeditions which were under his especial command. One 
of the most notable of these was the one into the gorges 
of the Mouzaia Mountains. Here his successes over the 
Arabs were very decided. About this time he reached 
the command of a regiment of chasseurs a pied. 

At the head of the 64th Regiment of the line, he de- 
feated the rebellion which Bou Maza had incited among 
the tribes of the Lower Dhara. After a bloody and ob- 
stinate struggle of eight months duration, he obtained a 
Colonelcy. Whilst holding this rank he commanded the 
expedition Ahmed Sghir. He advanced to the defile of 
Djerma where the enemy was entrenched; he gave them 
battle, defeated them, and took two Sheiks prisoners. 
After having commanded the Second Regiment of the 
Foreign Legion, he was transferred to the Third Zouaves. 
At the head of these, he won new honors against the 
Kabyles and the tribes of the Jurjura. Leaving Aumale 
in November, 1849, he raised the blockade of Bou Sada, 
collected the greater part of his corps before Zatacha, 
and was among the foremost in the assault upon that 
city. This brilliant series of actions procured for him 
the Cross of a Commander of the Legion of Honor. 

In 1850, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier 
General. At the commencement of that year, he led an 



120 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

» 

expedition against Zarah. The Arabs here, eagle-like, 
had their nest among the rocks. They had built villages 
upon heights accessible only by narrow paths overhanging 
fearful precipices, and from their abodes descended, upon 
every inviting occasion, to harass the French and plunder 
the country below — relying upon their retreat as safe, no 
matter what reverses they met with. Canrobert advanced 
three columns to attack the enemy in their retreat, and so 
skillfully combined their fire that in seven hours the Arab 
stronghold was reduced. 

Canrobert went to Paris in 1850, where he was made 
Aid-de-camp to Louis Napoleon, and entrusted Avith a 
command in the city. He exerted himself most energeti- 
cally in suppressing the insurrection which followed the 
coup d'etat. He was entrusted with general powers to 
examine into the condition of the political prisoners. In 
1853, he was created a General of Division. 

Upon the declaration of war against Russia, he was 
appointed to command the First Corps d'AriJiee, His 
division was frightfully decimated by cholera, during its 
stay in the Dobrudscha. His troops took part in the bat- 
tle of Alma, and he himself was wounded by a splinter of 
a shell which struck him on the breast and hand, but the 
post of honor had been assigned by Marshal St. Arnaud 
to Bosquet. The Marshal resigned his command six 
days after the first battle of the Crimea. Prince Napoleon 
thus describes the circumstances under which the command 
of the army was transferred to Canrobert. 

"Marshal St. Arnaud summoned the Generals of Di- 
vision and Brigades, and endeavored to make them a last 



ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 121 

address, but his feebleness did not permit him to proceed. 
He however made a final effort, and said that he thought 
he should not be departing from the wishes of the Emperor 
in assigning the command to the General who appeared to 
have been designated by the unanimous voice of the army. 
'I have selected General Canrobert,' said he. Ho replace 
me, pending the confirmation of the appointment by his 
majesty.' The Marshal made a sign with his hand to 
General Martinprey, who advanced to General Canrobert 
and presented him the paper containing his provisional 
commission. Instead of taking the paper, Gen. Canrobert 
drew from his pocket a letter bearing the arms of the 
Emperor. Marshal St. Arnaud opened his eyes, but ex- 
pressed no surprise, his head fell back on his pillow, and 
he uttered faintly these words, ^It is well.' " 

On the 5th of November, at Inkerman, Canrobert, 
although Commander-in-Chief, was again in the thickest 
of the fight, and whilst heading the impetuous charges of 
the Zouaves was slightly wounded, and had a horse killed 
under him. General Canrobert was a great favorite in 
both the English and French armies; his soldiers much 
admire his cheerfulness, activity and enthusiasm in battle. 
He was only responsible in a secondary degree for the 
conduct of affairs before Sebastopol. The command fell 
into the hands of Marshal Pelissier, owing to a dispute 
between Canrobert and Lord Raglan. Two months after 
this misunderstanding he quitted the Crimea. He was 
created a Marshal of France at the same time that MM. 
Bosquet and Randon received the same honor. He be- 
came as a matter of right, through his new dignity, a 



122 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 18o9. 

Senator. He obtained the Grand Cross of the Legion of 
Honor, May 20th, 1855. He is regarded, bj military 
men, as possessing fine strategic capacities. He is charj 
of his men, and therefore sparing of their blood. He is 
endowed with the very greatest personal courage in action, 
but prudent and cautious in determining ]iis attacks. 

Marie Edme Patrice Maurice McMahon is descended 
from an ancient Catholic Irish family, which risked all for 
the Stuarts, and after the expulsion of that unfortunate 
family from the English throne were forced to go into 
exile. They took refuge in France. General McMahon 
was born at Autun, in the Department of Saone et Loire, 
in 1807. One of his ancestors had, by marriage, acquired 
the splendid castle and extensive estates of Sully. His 
father, a personal friend of Charles X., was a Peer of 
France. He married a daughter of the ducal House of 
Caraman. 

General McMahon is the youngest child, and entered 
the school of St. Cyr in 1825. He saw his first service 
in the Algerian Expedition of 1830. He acted as Aid-de- 
camp to General Achard, at the siege of Antwerp, in 
1832. He became a Captain in 1833. He went ao-ain 
to Algiers during the last named year, remained there for 
a considerable time, and performed many brilliant actions. 
In 1837 he particularly distinguished himself during the 
assault upon Constantino. For awhile he commanded a 
Regiment of Foot Chasseurs and a Regiment of the 
Foreign Legion. He was appointed a Colonel in 1845, 
and rose to the rank of General of Brigade in 1848. 
Whilst he held the latter rank, he administered with 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 123 

marked ability the affairs, first, of the Province of Oran, 
and afterwards, of the Province of Constantine. In 1852, 
he was made General of Division. 

He was living in Paris, on half-pay, in 1^855, when 
General Canrobert resigned the chief command in the 
Crimea. On Canrobert's return, General McMahon was 
ordered to the command of his Division, and had. the 
perilous honor of conducting the assault upon the E-edan- 
Malakoff, on the 8th of September. How well he acquit- 
ted himself is known by the result. A cotemporary gives 
the following account of that terrific assault. 

" ' Soldiers of the First Division of Zouaves of the 
Guard,' said the gallant warrior, inspired by the prescience 
of victory, 'you are at last about to quit your trenches, 
to attack the enemy hand to hand. On this decisive day, 
our General has confided to you that most important task, 
th(5 taking of the Malakoff-Redan — the key of Sebasto- 
pol. Soldiers ! the entire army has its eyes upon you, 
and your colors planted upon the ramparts of that citadel 
will be the signal for the general assault. Your bravery 
is a guarantee that success will immortalize many in your 
regiments. In a few hours, the Emperor will tell France 
what the soldiers of Alma and Inkerman can do. I will 
give the signal by the cry of ' Vive I'Empereur.' Our 
rallying word shall be, 'Honneur et Patrie.' " 

"Electrified by this spirit-stirring address, the soldiers 
sprang forward with that heroic bravery characteristic of 
their nation, and after unexampled difiiculties, and most ex- 
citing foot-to-foot combat, succeeded in effecting a lodgment 
in the anterior part of the Malakoff. The enemy shower- 



124 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

ed down a storm of projectiles of all kinds upon tlie as- 
sailants, but the brave Bosquet supported them with his 
Guards ; and Pelissier, standing on the Mamelon, with his 
military reputation trembling in the balance, exercised all 
his characteristic energy in pushing forward the reserves ; 
convinced that the fall of the Malakoff would be decisive 
of success, he directed his whole attention to retaining 
possession of the grand prize. Matters were indeed some- 
what critical; but resolution and courage overcame all 
difficulties. Bosquet was struck by the bursting of a 
shell. Another General took his command. A powder- 
magazine exploded ; and the Russians hoping to profit by 
this accident immediately advanced in dense masses, and 
disposed in three columns, simultaneously attacked the 
centre, left and right of the Malakofi". But measures of 
defence had been already taken in the interior, and General 
McMahon opposed to the enemy bodies of troops whom 
nothing could intimidate. After the most desperate 
efibrts the Russians were compelled to make a precipitate 
retreat ; General McMahon remained master of the Mala- 
koff, and the tri-colored flag waved in triumph from its 
battlements." 

The Grand Cross of the "Legion of Honor," and the 
dignity of the Senatorship, were rewards of this glorious 
deed in arms. He is destined to rise to still higher hon- 
ors in Italy. He is perhaps the most brilliant General in 
the French Army. 

Jean Baptiste Philibert, Count Vaillant, was born at 
Dijon, on the 6th of December, 1790, educated in the 
Ecole Polytechnic, and served in the campaigns of Italy. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 125 

After distinguishing himself by extraordinary deeds of 
valor and patient endurance in the disastrous campaign 
of Russia, he was taken prisoner by the Russians, 
and kept in captivity until 1814, when he returned to 
France and resumed his rank in the army, and again dis- 
tinguished himself at Ligny and Waterloo. During the 
first years of the Restoration, he employed his time in 
translating a work from the English Language, entitled 
*' Principles for the Construction of Military Passes and 
Bridges." The expedition to Algiers in 1830 was the 
first opportunity that occurred for the exercise of his mil- 
itary genius. It was he who directed the works of the 
Fort V JEmpereur, which forced the Dey to capitulate. 
During this campaign his leg was broken by the explo- 
sion of a bomb-shell. He returned to France and was 
made a Lieutenant Colonel. In 1833, he gained fresh 
glory at the seige of Antwerp, and received the rank of 
full Colonel as well as the order of Leopold. In 1834, 
being sent to Algiers in command of a regiment of 
Engineers, he covered the country with fortifications, 
which considerably forwarded the military operations in 
that country. On his return to France, in 1839, he was 
appointed Commander of the Polytechnic School, and in 
1840 had charge of a portion of the fortifications of Paris. 
Promoted in 1845 to the rank of Lieutenant-General, 
Count Vaillant took part in all the Military Councils for 
the protection of the French territory. In Rome he was 
second in command, in 1849, and by his judgment and 
skill contrived to repair all the faults that had been com- 
mitted and was mainly instrumental in the taking of the 



126 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

town. In 1851, the baton of Marshal and the title of 
Count conferred upon him, sufficiently attest the estimate 
set upon his services in this campaign. His rank entitled 
him to a seat in the Senate ; the Emperor also made him 
Grand Marshal du Palais. In 1854, when Marshal Ar- 
naud left for the Crimea, Marshal Yaillant, succeeded him 
as Minister of War. Marshal Vaillant is, of all the French 
Generals, the man of the greatest experience, knowledge, 
and capacity, as a strategist and commander. The Em- 
peror has implicit confidence in him and the soldiers a sort 
of idolatry for his past exploits, his present spiril and 
indomitable courage. ^•' 

He accompanied Napoleon to Italy, and doubtless occu- 
pies the position of confidential military counsellor. It 
has been intimated more than once since the war began, 
that the general plan for the campaign has been sketched 
out by Count Yaillant, and if any changes are made in it, 
they will be made under the urgent force of events yet to 
transpire. There probably is truth in this intimation. It 
is said that the operations in the Crimea were conducted ac- 
cording to his suggestions. He on one side, and General 
Hess on the other, appear destined to play the leading 
parts in the present terrible drama. Theirs will be the quiet, 
invisible spirits directing and controlling the whole ma- 
chinery of war, whilst whatever of glory or disgrace occurs 
to either army, will be shared by the two Emperors. 

Amiable Jean Jacques Pelissier, Marshal-Duke of Mala- 
koff, was born at Maromme, near Rouen, on the 5th of 
November, 1794. Pelissier commenced his career as a 
student in the Military School of La Fleche, where he 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 127 

remained about two montlis, and then joined the JEcole 
Militaire of St. Cyr. On the 18th of March, 1815, two 
days before Napoleon entered Paris on his return frora 
Elba, Pelissier received an appointment which attached 
him to the King's (Louis XVIII.,) household. He joined 
the army on the Rhine, but the troops having been dis- 
banded, he joined the Legion of the Lower Seine. In 
1819 he was attached to the regiment known as the 
'' Hussars de la Meurthe;" and in August, 1820, was pro- 
moted to the rank of Lieutenant. He served in the 35th 
Regiment, in which his brother held the rank of Captain. 
Pelissier made the Campaign of 1823, in Spain, as Aid- 
de-camp to General Grundler. In 1823 he was deco- 
rated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor, and during 
the same year received the Order of St. Ferdinand of 
Spain. 

In 1828 Pelissier obtained the rank of Captain. In 
1829 he served in Greece as Aid-de-camp to General 
Durrieu, and for his brilliant conduct at the siege of the 
Castle of the Morel, was made Chevalier of St. Louis. 
In 1830 he joined the expedition to Algiers, and in the 
autumn of the same year returned to France, and served 
under General Pelot at the siege of Antwerp. 

It was in 1839 that Pelissier, being then Lieutenant- 
Colonel, began his career in the field, which is associated 
with his great military renown. He was made Chief of 
the Staff of the Third Division in Algiers, under General 
Schramm. 

In November, 1845, the name of Pelissier acquired 
celebrity in connection with an event which has given rise 



128 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859, 

to various opinions, was largely discussed and generally re- 
gretted. The Arab Bou Maza proclaimed the Holy War 
of the Dahara. He styled himself "the invulnerable," 
and persuaded the Kabyles into a firm belief in his divine 
commission. There was a general insurrection. Marshal 
Bugeaud, then Governor-General of Algiers, feeling the 
necessity of crushing out this rebellion at once, ere it 
had gathered head, and assumed formidable proportions, 
took prompt and vigorous measures. The part which 
Pelissier bore in it, is thus graphically told by a French 
writer of that day : — 

" There has just occurred one of those terrible events 
which deeply afflict all who witness them, even when con- 
vinced of their frightful necessity, and when they are justi- 
fied in declaring that everything possible was done to 
prevent the catastrophe. It is known that the corps com- 
manded by Colonel Pelissier, St. Arnaud, and De I'Ad- 
mirault, have been carrying on combined operations in 
the West. Colonel Pelissier was busy in pursuing the 
Ouled Riahs, who have never yet submitted, as they live in 
immense caverns, which it would be madness for the troops 
to penetrate. On the 18th of June, finding themselves 
closely pursued, they fled to their usual place of refuge. 
Having surrounded the cavern, some fagots were lighted, 
and thrown by the French troops before the entrance. 
After this demonstration, which was made to convince the 
Arabs that the French had the power, if they wished, of 
sufibcating them in their hiding-places, the Colonel threw 
in letters offering them life and liberty if they would sur- 
render with their horses. At first they refused, but after- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859, 129 

wards they consented if the French troops would withdraw. 
This condition was considered inadmissible, and more 
fagots were thrown in. A great tumult arose, and it was 
known afterwards that it arose from a discussion as to 
whether they would surrender or not. 

^' The party opposed to surrender carried their point, and 
a few of the minority escaped. Colonel Pelissier, wishing 
to spare the lives of those who remained, sent to them 
some Arabs to exhort them to surrender. They refused ; 
and some women, who did not partake of the savage fa- 
naticism of the majority, attempted to fly ; but their hus- 
bands and relatives fired upon them to prevent their escape 
from the martyrdom which they were themselves prepared 
to suffer. Colonel Pelissier then suspended the throwing 
of burning fagots and sent a French officer to parley with 
Ouled Ri^hs. His messenger was received with a dis- 
charge of fire-arms. This state of things continued until 
the night of the 19th, when, losing all patience, and no 
longer having any hope of subduing these fanatics, who 
formed a perpetual nucleus of revolt in the country, the 
fire was renewed, and rendered intense. During this time 
the cries of the unhappy wretches who were undergoing 
suffocation were dreadful, and then nothing was heard but 
the crackling of the fagots. The silence was fearfully 
ominous, 

'' The troops entered, and found 500 dead bodies. About 
150 Arabs, who still breathed, were brought out into the 
open air, but a portion of them died soon afterwards. Let 
all who read this reflect, that none but those who, like 
ourselves, are upon the spot can judge of the efforts made 

I 



130 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

to arrest this catastrophe, or comprehend how great was the 
necessity of reducing these people for the sake of the 
general tranquility." 

The transaction was no sooner known in Paris than 
regret and indignation found universal expression. The 
Opposition party in the Chambers, the Senate, and the 
Press, were loud in reprobating a proceeding which they de- 
clared had degraded France in the eyes of the civilized 
world. Marshal Soult, on behalf of the Government, de- 
clared he exceedingly regretted and strongly disapproved 
of what had been done, and had written to that effect to 
the Governor-General of Algeria. Marshal Bugeaud was 
not deterred by this language from justifying the deed, 
and taking upon himself the responsibility. The Moni- 
teur Algerien, of July 22d, 1845, contained an article 
in which it was asserted " that the deed of June 19th was 
not only a military necessity, but an act of general hu- 
manity ; that having pursued the Arabs to the grotto, 
Colonel Pelissier had no choice but to reduce them to 
submission, or to confirm the belief of the natives in the 
security of those retreats, and thus indefinitely postpone 
the war ; that the delay of a blockade would have en- 
dangered the success of the operation in which the columns 
of St. Arnaud and I'Admirault were equally engaged with 
that of Pelissier ; and that a conflict in the interior of 
the cave would have rendered certain as great a loss of 
life as that which took place against the intentions of the,^ 
French." 

Finally, and this is what most concerns us here, it 
was declared on the 19th of June, " Colonel Pelissier 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 131 

only carried out the positive orders of the Governor-Gene- 
ral and Commander in Chief." 

In the following year Pelissier became Marshal of the 
Camp. In 1848, General Cavaignac appointed him Com- 
mandant of the Division of Oran, and he remained seven 
years in this rank. He served in Algeria fifteen years 
consecutively, and took part in every important military 
operation executed during that period. 

It is narrated of him, that on one occasion, holding the 
position of Chef de Battalion in a command of a punish- 
ment corps, the Zephyrs, he attacked a mud fortress, oc- 
cupied by Arabs. His men in vain attempted to scale the 
■walls. The Arabs kept a good look-out, and repulsed 
every assault. Pelissier at length said to two or three 
men about him, " Throw me over, I know the company 
will follow me." His orders were executed. For two or 
three minutes he was alone in the enemy's position, and 
in that space of time he received three or four wounds. 
But he had rightly judged the effect of his hardihood ; the 
men followed, and the place was taken. 

He was wounded in the shoulder with a musket-ball at 
Bois des Oliviers, on the 15th day of June, 1840, and in 
the arm with a musket-ball in the campaign of Mascara in 
1842. 

Pelissier joined the army before Sebastopol, when it 
was enduring the rigors of its first winter campaign. To 
the first corps, of which he assumed the command, was 
assigned the duty of supporting the artillery and engineers 
before Sebastopol, extending from the Quarantine Bastion 
to the Great Ravine, which leads to the military harbor ; 



132 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

•whilst tlie second corps, under Bosquet, was lield in readi- 
ness to repulse any attack which might be made by the 
Russian army in the field. He had held the command 
about four months, during which the French works had 
been considerably advanced. Numerous sorties were re- 
pulsed, and the Central and Flag Staff bastions almost 
ruined, when, on the 19th of May, General Canrobert 
announced his own resignation of the Chief Command; 
and, in language honorable to both parties, stated " that 
the Emperor had appointed Pelissier his successor." 

Many explanations were at once offered for this sudden 
transfer; by some, it was affirmed that General Canro- 
bert's opinion had been negatived in an important dis- 
cussion at a council of war ; by others that he could not 
acquiesce in the plan of the campaign recommended by 
the Emperor ; no one admitted the sufficiency of the rea- 
sons put forward in the published official documents relat- 
ing to the change — the failing health of the resigning 
General. 

It is certain, whatever the cause of the resignation, 
that the appointment of Pelissier was received with pro- 
found satisfaction in the French camp. New energy 
was diffused into every department of the service. Within 
a week a successful expedition took Kertch; a forward move- 
ment on the Tchernaya, and a successful attack upon a Rus- 
sian counter approach, were simultaneously carried out; 
and the credit of the whole was attributed to the superior 
energy of the new^ commander. He was in chief command 
when that grand desideratuni, of the Anglo-French alli- 
ance was consummated — the capture of Sebastopol. This 
event took place on the 8th of September, 1855. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 183 

Immediately afterward he received a Marshal's baton. 
Victoria has also conferred upon him the Grand Cross of 
Military Knight of the Order of Bath. 

He was recently ambassador to England, where he was 
most cordially received. He has been recalled and has 
been charged by his Imperial master with the command 
of an army of observation on the Rhine. Louis Napoleon 
is apprehensive that Germany, under the influence of Aus- 
tria, may be tempted to strike a blow at France while he 
is absent in Italy. The highest mark of confidence he 
could give to any man, is that which he has conferred 
upon the Duke of Malakoff. He has entrusted to his care 
the guarding of the highway to the centre of his Empire, 
and the safety of his Empress and child. 

The stern warrior of sixty-five has recently allied him- 
self to the Imperial family. He has married a cousin of 
the Empress Eugenie; a woman of strong intellect and 
possessed of a fine physique and a handsome face. She 
if about thirty-five years of age. 

General Forey does not hold so high a rank as either of 
the oflicers whose biography has already been given. But 
a=^ the leader of the division by which the first sharp battle 
of the present war was fought and won over the Austrians, 
hi? biography claims attention. He is the hero of the 
Montebello of 1859, as Lannes was of that of June 9th, 
1800. 

He was born in 1804, and was admitted into the French 
Military School of St. Cyr, in 1822. Afterwards he filled 
the post 'of instructor to the 2d Regiment of Light In- 
fantry. He accompanied the first expedition against 



134 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Algiers, and returning, performed garrison duty in the 
country bordering upon the Pyrenees until 1835. In 
that year he attained the grade of Captain, and distin- 
guished himself at Medeah during the retreat of the 
French army from the first siege of Constantine. He 
also acquired an increase of reputation at the Portes-de- 
Fer. 

During the year 1840, at the head of a Battalion of 
Foot Chasseurs, he made four separate expeditions against 
the Arabs. He returned victorious from each. When he 
visited France during the same year, he was named a 
Colonel. In 1848, the rank of General was conferred upon 
him. He strongly favored the coiqo d' etdt. As soon 
as it was consummated he received a Commander's Cross 
in the Legion of Honor. The command of a Division 
was given him in 1852. He is a member of the superior 
commission of Infantry officers, and has done much to pro- 
mote the efficiency of that arm of the French service by 
his minute and exact inspections. 

During the Crimean War, he was appointed General of 
the 1st Division of the Reserved Corps; but during the 
great siege, he often had charge of the troops in the 
trenches. In every action where he was present, during 
that war, he behaved most admirably. 

When the Italian war broke out, he had command of 
the 1st Division of the Army of Paris. He at present 
commands the 1st Division of the first Corps d' Arm^e of 
the French army in Italy. His immediate superior is Bar- 
raguay d' Hilliers. General Forey has skill, experience, 
and bravery. He is much beloved and respected by the 
Emperor. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE SARDINIAN GENERALS — GARABALDI — SERVES IN THE SARDINIAN 

MARINE BEY OF TUNIS REPUBLIC OP URAGUAY RIO GRANDE THE 

ITALIAN LEGION REVOLUTIONARY PARTY IN ITALY CAREER IN NOR- 
THERN ITALY — -DEFENCE OF ROME DEFEATS THE NEAPOLITANS FALL 

OF ROME— ESCAPES FROM THE AUSTRIANS RETURNS TO AMERICA 

GOES BACK TO GENOA COMMANDS A MERCHANTMAN PRESENT POSI- 
TION HIS CHARACTER GENERAL ULLOA HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION 

HIS SERVICES IN 1848 — HIS PRESENT POSITION GENERAL ALPHONSB 

DELLA MARMORA — HIS EDUCATION — PLANS OP MILITARY REFORM — 

HIS FIRST SERVICES HIS RAPID PROMOTION MINISTER OF WAR — 

REDUCES GENOA — REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY — SERVICES IN THE 
CRIMEA — LORD HARDWICKe's OPINION OP HIM — FOREIGN HONORS — 
HIS ELDER BROTHER — PRESENT POSITION — GENERAL DURANDO — HIS 

EARLYLIFE COMMANDS THE ROMAN ARMY HIS CONDUCT ANECDOTE 

OP PIUS IX. HIS DESERTION OF GENERAL FERRARA DEFEATED BY 

THE AUSTRIANS JOINS CHARLES ALBERT OPINIONS PRESENT PO- 
SITION — CURIOUS DESCRIPTION OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SARDIN- 
IAN ARaiY. 

General Garibaldi was born at Nice, on the 4th 
of July, 1807. The first service he ever saw was in the 
Sardinian marine, in which he gave many proofs of his 
courage, capacity, and skill in military tactics. His ca- 
reer in this direction was cut short by his participation in 
the conspiracy of " ?a Giovane Italia,'' in 1834. Escaping 
the vigilance of the Austriae^n Sbirri, Garibaldi took refuge 

in France, but not finding occupation for his talents, and 
135 



136 ITALY AND THE WAB, OF 1859. 

being utterly without resources, lie entered the service of 
the Bey of Tunis, where he became Captain of a frigate. 
But Garibaldi's adventurous spirit soon became dissatis- 
fied with the coasting service of the Bey. He therefore 
quitted it upon the first news of the revolt of the Pro- 
vince of Bio Grande against Brazil. Garibaldi, ever 
zealous in the cause of liberty, chartered a vessel and of- 
fered his services, which were accepted by the revolution- 
ists of the new Republic of Uraguay. 

In 1842, being severely wounded in an encounter with 
the Brazilians, he was taken prisoner. After much ill 
treatment, and many attempts to escape, he at length suc- 
ceeded in obtaining his liberty in the year 1843. He 
hastened to Bio Grande, where he reentered the service 
of the Bepublic as commander of its navy. In an en- 
counter with the enemy he burned his whole squadron to 
avoid surrendering it to a stronger force. After this, 
nothing discouraged, he placed himself at the head of a 
few hundred emigrants and exiles and fought on his own 
responsibility. During this campaign of ambuscades and 
skirmishes, his young wife, whom he had married after his 
arrival in South America, shared his dangers, and was 
even taken prisoner by the Brazilians; but eluding the 
vigilance of her keepers, she rejoined her husband. 

In 1844 we find Garibaldi engaged in Montevideo, in 
the struggle against Rosas. Here, with three small vessels, 
he sustained a combat of three days against a fleet of ten 
ships of war. Reduced to despair, he a second time burnt 
his vessels, and, with the soldiers and sailors on board, 
fought his way through the enemy into Montevideo. As 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 137 

a recognition of his bravery, and of the merit of this bril- 
liant action, he was unanimously appointed Commander 
of the Italian legion, then in the town. At the head of 
this distinguished legion, Garibaldi accomplished prodigies 
of valor, and the date of the battle of St. Antoine and the 
name of Garibaldi were inscribed in letters of gold on the 
banners of the regiment. Great interest was now excited 
in Europe by the brilliant career of the young General. 
The Revolutionary party in Italy had already fixed on him 
for their General. At the first news of the outbreak of 
1848, Garibaldi left South America and sailed for Genoa, 
where he offered his sword to Charles Albert, then com- 
manding in Lombardy. The counsellors of Charles Albert 
induced him to decline the services of this brilliant soldier 
of fortune. He then directed his steps towards Milan, 
which, after the defeat of Custoza, was threatened by the 
Austrians. 

The Provisional Government, giving Garibaldi the com- 
mand of three thousand volunteers, despatched him to 
the succor of Bergamo and Brescia ; but the Austrians 
having regained possession of Milan, the people of the 
two cities he went to succor lost all courage, and Garibaldi 
was forced to retreat to Luino, where, for some time, hav- 
ing taken the two lake steamers, he maintained his posi- 
tion. At length, after many skirmishes with the enemy. 
Garibaldi was forced to withdraw, and, abandoning the 
cause, seek an asylum in Switzerland. This position of 
Garibaldi in 1848 is very much the same as the one he is 
now occupying at the commencement of the war of 1859. 

The forced retreat of Garibaldi put the finishing stroke 



138 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

to the irritation of the Italians against the Piedmontese 
Government, already threatened by the Radical party, 
with Gioberti at its head. 

At the elections of the Piedmontese Representatives for 
the Parliament of 1848, Garibaldi was elected by Nice. 
He evinced his strong attachment to the Republican party 
by heading all his orders of the day with the words " Long 
live the Republic." But the hero of Montevideo is less a 
statesman than a soldier, and probably would not have 
distinguished himself in peace as in war. His abilities, 
however, were not tried, for he had scarcely time to take 
the constitutional oaths before the Parliament was dis- 
solved. 

The flight of Pius IX., and the revolt of Rome, gave 
fresh opportunities for the display of Garibaldi's ardor and 
courage. Sent for by Mazzini to Rome, he was entrusted 
with the defence of that city. He at first hoped to frater- 
nize with the French troops under Oudinot. 

He soon found that he should be obliged to oppose force 
to force. He repulsed the assailants at the Villa Pam- 
phili, and took three hundred prisoners. On the 9th of 
May, profiting by a truce which had been declared, he fell 
on the Neapolitan army encamped at Palestirna. With 
three thousand men he completely routed five thousand, 
led by the Neapolitan General Rossellini. Ten days 
afterward Garibaldi attacked and surprised Ferdinand 11. 
at the head of his troops at Belletri. The Neapolitans 
fled, leaving their arms and ammunition in his hands. The 
King himself narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. Gari- 
baldi was severely wounded. Rome, however, despite all 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 139 

the talent and bravery displayed in her defence, was des- 
tined to fall. When he saw that all was lost, in conjunc- 
tion with Henrico Cernusch^, he attempted to continue the 
war amid the mountains with a small army of three thou- 
sand men. After encountering infinite danger and suffer- 
ing, the little troop succeeded in reaching the Republic of 
San Marino, which was neutral ground; but the Allies 
soon interfered. Garibaldi, with only a few followers, 
strove to penetrate to the shores of the Adriatic and to 
embark for Venice. Not having been able to succeed, he 
was tracked on all sides by the Austrians. He then 
crossed the Appenines. During this perilous march, his 
wife, who had so nobly shared his dangers in South America, 
and who had devoted herself to the wounded in Rome, ex- 
pired of exhaustion in one of the mountain passes. 

After many adventures and much suffering he reached 
Genoa, and once more embarked for America. He landed 
in New York, where, in partnership with Salvi, a celebrated 
tenor singer, he put himself at the head of a company for 
the manufacture of tallow candles, on Staten Island. This 
speculation failed, and Salvi having gone to Europe, where 
he is now director of a small theatre in Seville, Gari- 
baldi went to California. 

In 1852 he proceeded to China in a Peruvian ship, 
having entered the service of Peru. At length, in 1854, 
seized with a yearning desire to visit his native country, 
he returned to Genoa, where he accepted the command of 
a merchant vessel. In this humble occupation the declara- 
tion of the new war of Italian liberty found him. He 
hastened to appeal to the Italians, and soon placed himself 



140 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

at the head of a legion of volunteers, six thousand strong. 
These, with his own services, he again offered to Piedmont, 
and Victor Emanuel, better advised than his father, ac- 
cepted them, with expressions of the warmest respect and 
admiration. 

Garibaldi's life is like the wildest romance ; his charac- 
ter like that of an ancient paladin ; his love of liberty like 
that of an ancient Roman. He is still in the prime of 
life, vigorous, and enthusiastic as ever. He may yet meet 
with a reward for his numerous services and sufferings. 
For him it would be satisfaction sufficient should he behold 
the independence of Italy proclaimed, and foreign con- 
querors driven for ever from her soil. 

General Jerome Ulloa was born at Naples in 1810. He 
belongs to a highly respectable family. Having been edu- 
cated in the military college of Nunziatella, he left it in 
1831, with the grade of Lieutenant of Artillery. He pro- 
fessed, even young as he was, the most liberal principles. 
He was arrested in 1833 for not having revealed a con- 
spiracy of which he was supposed to be cognizant. He 
remained six months in prison under this charge. 

As soon as the Constitutional Regime was established 
in 1848, at Naples, Ulloa, having then the rank of Captain, 
at a meeting of the officers of his regiment induced them 
to take an oath never to fire on the people except in con- 
junction with the National Guard, and in maintenance of 
the Constitution. When the war between Piedmont and 
Austria broke out in the same year, Ulloa obtained six 
months leave of absence in order to assist the cause of 
national liberty. He was about to depart at the head of a 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 141 

corps of volunteers, when Naples decided to send an army, 
under the command of General Pepe, to support the 
Italians. Ulloa, of course, joined forces with Pepe, and 
was appointed the General's Aid-de-camp. General Pepe, 
old and infirm, relied greatly on his young Aid-de-camp 
for the organization of the troops. 

Scarcely had the Neapolitan corps, commanded by Pepe, 
reached Bologna, before the King of Naples recalled 
them. General Pepe, however, with fifteen hundred men, 
pursued his way to Venice, whither, of course, Ulloa ac- 
companied him. They entered Venice determined to 
defend it to the last. In April, 1849, Venice being closely 
pressed by the Austrians, Ulloa was entrusted with the 
defence of the fort of Molghera. Under his command a 
garrison of only two thousand five hundred men held out 
a whole month against the enemy. Forced at last to 
abandon the contest, he evacuated the fortress, leaving it 
entirely dismantled, without a single piece of artillery, 
and without a single man falling into the possession of the 
enemy. After this event, he was made a member of the 
Military Commission of Venice, and invested with unlimited 
power. "When, after superhuman endurance, and pro- 
digies of valor, Venice, reduced by famine and ravaged by 
the cholera, was forced to capitulate, Ulloa, with many of 
his companions-in-arms, abandoned Italy, carrying with 
them the hope of better days, and the determination to 
make her freedom the object of their lives. Since the 
fall of Venice, General Ulloa has resided principally in 
Paris. He has published several works on military science, 
as well as on the Revolution of 1848, which are highly 



142 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

esteemed. Ulloa is a thoroughly disciplined and educated 
soldier, devoted to the cause of liberty, and brave, as all 
the Italian patriots have been. 

He has returned to Italy since the present war broke 
out. He was entrusted, at its commencement, with the 
formation and organization of an independent legion, to 
be composed of volunteers. It was formed mostly of 
young and enthusiastic Parmese and Florentines. 

When the recent revolt broke out in Tuscany, he was 
sent thither upon a special mission. The object seems to 
have been to consolidate the revolution, and take measures 
to prevent any reactionary movement. He seems to have 
accomplished this in the most solid and reliable manner. 

General Alphonse della Marmora, born in 1804, is the 
youngest but one of a family of sixteen children. His 
father, the Marquis della Marmora, married a woman 
distinguished for her intellect and accomplishments — 
Mile, de Berz^. The daughters, being the eldest of the 
family, were carefully educated by their mother, and in 
their turn took charge of the education of their younger 
brothers when, in 1805, the Marchesa was left a widow 
with this enormous family. 

Admitted to the military academy in 1816, he came out 
in 1823, with the rank of Lieutenant of Artillery, and 
some time after was made Adjutant. He has particularly 
turned his attention to horsemanship, gymnastics, and the 
practice of gunnery, and has organized normal schools for 
the instruction of the sub-officers and soldiers in these 
exercises. In 1848 he held the rank of Major. He dis- 
tinguished himself particularly, at Monzambano, Borghet- 
to, Yalleggio and Pescara. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 143 

On the 2d of April, 1848, he eiFected, on the heights 
of Pastiengo, a happy diversion by which the rear of the 
Austrian Army was thrown into confusion. Time was 
given to the disordered Piedmontese to rally and rout 
the enemy. This action gained him the confidence of 
Charles Albert, who had previously regarded in an unfa- 
vorable light his plans for military reform. 

His firmness and presence of mind, in the midst of the 
popular agitation, during an emeute at Milan, by which 
the person of the King was imperiled, caused him to be 
named General of Brigade. He was for a time attached 
to the staff of General Chrzanowski. After the armistice 
of 1849 he commanded a reserved corps, and attempted 
an intervention in Tuscany. Before he could effect it, he 
received orders to join the Sardinian Army, which had 
then just crossed the Ticino. He was unable to arrive in 
time. The battle of Novara, the Sardinian Waterloo, was 
lost, ere he was able to effect a junction of his detachment 
with the main army. 

He took the fortress of Rcta from the Lombards, who 
had seized upon it in order to assist the revolt at Genoa. 
He was ordered to advance upon Genoa, at the head of a 
powerful force, and besiege it. After an easy bombard- 
ment he retook it for the King, and quelled the revolt. 

Victor Emanuel, who had in the meantime succeeded 
Charles Albert, appointed him Lieutenant-General and 
Minister of War, during the year 1849. The Sardinian 
army had been completely disorganized by the repeated 
defeats of the late campaign. Whole regiments, after the 
battle of Novara, were completely dispersed. There 



144 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

were some brigades who reckoned their losses by hundreds. 
It is clear that the acts of pillage which followed this de- 
moralization are attributable, not to the disposition of the 
Piedmontese soldiery, but to the vices inherent in the 
organization of the Sardinian army system of that day. 
It was General Marmora's work to cure the system of 
these radical defects. 

The drill and discipline, the constitution of the regi- 
mental staff, the scale of pay, have all undergone consid- 
erable change. It was his constant care, during his first 
administration of the War Office, to cultivate a military 
spirit. He possesses a resolute spirit, and has compelled 
the officers to materially alter their manners, and this is 
not among the least beneficial of the changes made by 
him. 

In 1855, Marmora resigned his position as Minister of 
War, was succeeded by General Durando, and took the 
command of the Sardinian force dispatched to the Crimea. 
This division numbered 17,000 men. It became a part of 
the Corps of Reserve ; but little opportunity was given to 
it or its General, for distinction. At the passage of the 
Tchernaya, the Sardinian Carbineers under his lead suc- 
cessfully repulsed the Russians. His brother, the Cheva- 
lier Delia Marmora, who was serving under him as Major 
General, died of Cholera. 

The Earl of Hardwicke, a distinguished British states- 
man, spoke thus of the personal character of General 
Marmora, in the House of Lords, in 1854 : 

''I can state, for the satisfaction of the British Army, 
that General Marmora is a man of high ability, whose 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 145 

soldier-like qualities will merit their esteem. He is, 
moreover, possessed of so much openness, frankness, and 
nobility of character that he will always be accessible to 
their communications, and receive them in a congenial 
manner. He is a good soldier, and a perfect gentleman 
in his deportment." 

At the close of the Crimean war, he received the Grand 
Cross of the Legion of Honor, in France, and was made 
a Knight of the Bath, in England. On his return to 
Turin, he resumed his place in the Cabinet as Minister of 
War. To .this office is also attached the Ministry of 
Marine. The Sardinian Navy has been much neglected, 
and much fault has been found with him, both in and out 
of the Sardinian Parliament, for his inefficient manage- 
ment of it. He has more than once frankly acknowledged 
his total ignorance of maritime affairs. 

General Marmora's elder brother was also Lieutenant 
General in the Sardinian service. He bore the title of 
Prince of Masserano. 

General Marmora is now the Commander-in-Chief of 
the Piedmontese Army, at the seat of war. Victor Em- 
anuel has a great fondness for him. This is easily 
accounted for. They possess some leading traits of char- 
acter which are very similar, and their tastes have there- 
fore run in the same direction. 

General Durando is a native of Piedmont, between fifty 
and sixty years of age. He was slightly implicated in 
the revolt of 1831, which Charles Albert suppressed with 
such terrible cruelty. He escaped, however, the vengeance 
of the King, and went to Spain. There he adopted a 

K 



146 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

military career, served with distinction in the army of 
the Liberal party, and attained high rank. 

He took part in the war of 1848, in Italy, and was 
entrusted with the command of an army of 20,000 men, 
composed of Italians from the Roman States. The desire 
of the extreme Republicans of the army was, that Gen. 
Ferrara should be the Commander-in-Chief. But the Pope, 
at that time, had become alarmed at the progress of the 
Revolution, and had joined the reactionary party. He 
procured the appointment of Durando to the position, 
believing that if Durando did not manage to check the 
Revolution he would succeed in having it defeated. 

Montanelli, a distinguished Italian literateur, tells the 
following story about the Pope in this connection. The 
Holy Father was wont to say : 

" I have much to fear from the republicanism and impetu- 
osity of Ferrara. But I can fully trust Durando, with his 
good-natured face and sleek looks, so like those of a fat 
monk." 

Durando, if he had done his duty, would have advanced 
at once toward the passes of the Tyrol, so as to have cut 
off the advance of the Austrians from Germany, who 
were rapidly pushing forward to the relief of Radetzky, 
then shut up with his shattered army in the strong fort- 
ress of Verona. Two Austrian Generals, Welden and 
Nugent, at the head of 20,000 men, were advancing by 
forced marches. General Durando instead of keeping 
his small army united, and giving them battle, divided it. 
One corps composed almost wholly of volunteers, was sent 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 147 

off under General Ferrara. He suffered this to be at- 
tacked and crushed by this superior force, without going 
to his assistance. It is true he afterwards gave battle to 
the same Austrian corps, but he was defeated and thej 
passed on to Verona. 

His little army wasted gradually away until he, with a 
few troops, joined Charles Albert. In the army of the 
King he was entrusted with the command of a Division and 
was present at several battles. He was Sardinian Minis- 
ter of War during the time General Marmora was in the 
Crimea. It was through his efforts mainly that the Pied- 
montese Parliament consented to the alliance against 
Russia. 

That General Durando betrayed the Republicans in 
1848, there is no doubt. There seems to be as little 
doubt that he is sincerely attached to the reigning Pied- 
montese dynasty, and that he eagerly desires the growth 
and prosperity of his native country. He is a military 
chief of moderate talents, united to great energy of will 
and perseverance of conduct. He now commands a 
Division of the Sardinian army. 

To these notices of the principal Sardinian Generals it 
may be proper to append the following curious description 
of the manner in which their army is constituted. The de- 
scription is taken from a very high authority, and applies 
to that army as it was in 1856 : 

^'Besides the body-guard of his majesty, and the royal 
guard of the palace, the Piedmontese army is thus di- 
vided : — 



148 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

" 1st. The Koyal Carbineers, who in time of peace act 
as police, and in time of war assist the army; 

^'2d. Royal Corps, called the Staff. 

" 3d. Royal Corps of Military Engineers, seconded by 
a Battalion of Sappers. 

''4th. Royal Corps of Artillery, divided into three regi- 
ments — one of workmen, who prepare the material; one 
of twelve companies of artillerymen for fortified places, 
and another to serve in the field. There are twenty bat- 
teries of six pieces each. 

" 5th. In the Infantry there is a picked brigade, although 
no longer privileged, namely, the brigade of Grenadiers, 
and two regiments of two battalions. There are nine 
other brigades, of two regiments of three battalions: in 
all, fifty-four battalions. Besides there is a regiment of 
Chasseurs of Sardinia, another of Free Chasseurs, both 
of two battalions. There are three battalions of Bersag- 
lieri, a corps from which France is said to have copied its 
former Chasseurs de Vincennes. The imitation, however, 
has surpassed the model ; for the Piedmontese still use the 
old carbine, and have not adopted the Minid rifle. The 
broad-brimmed, spherical-crowned hat of varnished leather, 
shaded by dark-green plumes, worn by these Bersaglieri, 
and which has at first such a theatrical, nay, comic effect, 
comes by custom to seem both elegant and military. 

" 6th. There are ten regiments of cavalry, four of the 
line, six of light cavalry ; in all, forty squadrons. 

" There are other supplementary institutions, which in- 
crease the efficiency of the army. These are the corps of 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 149 

Veterans and Invalids, the d^p6ts for officers, the com- 
mandants of places and forts, and, finally, the institutions 
for military discipline and education, as the School of In- 
fantry and Cavalry, the Royal Academy, and the College 
for Soldiers' Sons." 



CHAPTER XII. . 

AUSTRIAN GENERALS — BARON HESS — BIRTH — EARLY SERVICES — RAPID 
PROMOTION — SERVED UNDER RADETZKY — HIS STRATEGETIC TALENTS 

ANECDOTE WITH THE ELECTOR OP HESSE WITH THE EMPEROR 

PROBABLE POSITION HE WILL ASSUME IN THIS WAR GENERAL BENE- 

DEK HIS SERVICES GALLICIA ITALY HIS QUALITIES AS A SOL- 
DIER GENERAL WIMPFFEN COUNT STADION EDMOND PRINCE 

SCHWARTZENBURG PRINCE CHARLES FREDERIC SCHWARTZENBURG — • 

THEIR FAMILY PRINCE FREDERIC CHARLES LEICHTENSTEIN PRINCE 

EDWARD LEICHTENSTEIN GENERAL ZOBEL. 

First among the Austrian Generals in point of age and 
reputation is Henrj Baron de Hess. He was born in 
Vienna, in 1788, and began his military career as an 
Ensign in 1805. For sometime he was employed either 
upon the staff of the army, or in engineering operations. 
He saw active service, for the first time, in the campaign 
of 1809. He won great distinction at the battle of Wa- 
gram, which resulted so disastrously to the House of Haps- 
burg. His first service was against the same enemy with 
whom he is now struggling upon the plains of Lombardy. 
During the campaigns which immediately preceded the 
downfall of Napoleon, he was constantly upon duty. The 
brilliancy of his deeds in the battles of Dresden and 
Leipsic, caused him to be promoted with rapidity. After 
the Peace of Paris, he was President of the Council of 
War. In 1830, he attained the rank of Colonel in the 
150 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 151 

Army of Italy, and was placed at the head of a Division 
of the Staff. He obtained the reputation of being one of 
the most accomplished officers in the Austrian army. 

Obtaining the rank of Field-Marshal-Lieutenant in 1842, 
his strategetic talents had not full play until the war of 
1848. He was the principal military counsellor of Mar- 
shal Radetzky. Baron Hess sketched out all the princi- 
pal operations of that brilliant campaign with which the 
Italian war closed in 1848. Among these splendid move- 
ments, the march on Vicenza, the storming and capture 
of that city, and the retreat of the Piedmontese at Custazza, 
on July 28th. This caused Charles Albert to retreat, and 
led to the armistice of the 9th of August. 

Marshal Radetzsky was indebted to Hess for the mas- 
terly plan of the campaign in the spring of 1849 ; a cam- 
paign which, in three days, completely destroyed the Sar- 
dinian army, under Charles Albert, March 23d, 1849, and 
terminated the war. For these signal services General 
Hess was rewarded with the title of Baron, the Grand 
Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa, the Order of Leopold, 
and made Master of the Ordnance, and the head of the 
Staff of the Austrian army, which position he still holds. 

Radetzky had one great military virtue. He was always 
ready to recognise and acknowledge worth and excellence 
in his fellow-soldiers. He wrote to the wife of Baron 
Hess a letter, in which, speaking of these campaigns, he 
says, "If I have all the glory he has all the merit." In 
writing to the Department of War at Vienna, Radetzky 
said: 

'' Before all, I hasten to name my Quarter-Master-Gene- 



152 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

ral, General de Hess. To him — I say it from tlie fulness 
of mj heart — is due by far the greater portion of the 
results which have been achieved by the Imperial army 
during the last campaign. Seeing everything at a glance, 
always seizing the right opportunity, and profiting by it 
with rapidity ; ever keeping the most elevated aim in view, 
he had my entire, my unlimited confidence ; and with him 
by my side I led the army on to certain victory. The 
army knew this and conquered." 

Since the close of the wars of 1849, Baron Hess has 
served as Ambassador at the Court of Berlin. During the 
Crimean wars he, for a time, commanded the Austrian 
army of observation in the Turkish Provinces. 

A rather amusing incident is related as happening be- 
tween Baron Hess and the Elector of Hesse. The latter, 
who is one of the most stupid of the many stupid petty 
Princes in Germany, was introduced to the Baron Hess, a 
General whose fame is European, and asked him "If he 
had shared in the Italian campaign?" Hess replied in 
the afiirmative. The Elector enquired what position he had 
held? He answered that of " Chief of the Staff." The 
German Prince then very innocently inquired " whether 
or not he had commanded a corps ? " 

Baron Hess is now in Italy with the Emperor Francis 
Joseph. He is said, by many, to possess the most finely 
constituted military mind in Europe. He may probably 
occupy toward Gyulai the same position thal^he did toward 
Radetzky, except that he was inferior to Badetzky in 
military rank, whilst he is superior to Gyulai. One he 
advised — to the other he can speak on terms of equality, 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 153 

if not of command. Unless some great disaster overtake 
the Austrian army, he, Baron Hess, -vvill probably not assume 
an active open command in the field. 

Another very distinguished officer, now commanding a 
corps d'arm^e, is Louis de Benedek, a General of Division, 
who has done more hard fighting, and seen more service, 
than any officer of like grade in the Austrian army, with, 
perhaps, the exception of General Schlick. He was born 
at Edenbourg, a small town of Hungary, in 1804. He 
acquired a knowledge of his prpfession at Neustadt. He 
entered the Austrian army as Cornet, in 1822. From the 
superior qualities and knowledge of his profession which 
he exhibited, he had reached the rank of Colonel as early 
as 1843, — a remarkably rapid rise in the Austrian service. 

A rising in Gallicia, against the Hapsburgs, took place 
in that year, and he played a leading part in its suppres- 
sion. He was entrusted, by the Arch-Duke Ferdinand 
d'Este, with the pacification of the eastern part of the Pro- 
vince. This commission he successfully filled, according 
to the Austrian standard of merit. 

At the outbreak of the troubles in Italy he was ordered 
to Milan, and bore an active part in all the campaign 
which followed. The coolness and bravery he exhibited 
during the retreat from Milan, at the battle of Ossone, 
and more especially at Custature, where he was the last 
to leave the field, attracted general attention to him, and 
elicited high commendation. Radetzky alluded to him in 
an official bulletin. This mention of his services obtained for 
him the Order of Maria Theresa. He had had previously 
bestowed upon him that of St. Leopold. 



154 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

The successful siege of Mortara, and the battle of No- 
vara, conferred new laurels upon him. He was immedi- 
ately afterward created Major-General of the First Re- 
serve Corps of the Army of the Danube, and transferred 
to Hungary. He was twice wounded in his campaign 
against the Magyars, having been present in at least a 
dozen sharp encounters with them. His laurels did not 
freshen and brighten there. Like those of Welden and 
Wolgemuth, who, too, had won high reputations in Italy, 
they faded in a contest with abler generals and better 
soldiers. 

After the close of the Hungarian campaign Benedek 
was transferred to the command of the Second Corps 
d'Arm^e of the Army of Italy. He is now Commander of 
the Fourth. He is a hard fighter, a good soldier, and has 
some ability as a strategist, but hitherto has not had much 
opportunity for the display of his talents in this direction. 

Francis Emile de WimpfFen, who was recently, and has 
been for some time. Commander of the Austrian forces in 
the eastern part of the Lombardo-Venetian Provinces, was 
born at Prague in 1797. Like Baron Hess, he saw ser- 
vice in the Allied armies, during the last campaigns 
against Napoleon. He was slowly promoted until, having 
attained the rank of Field-Marshal, he commanded a di- 
vision of the Second Corps d'Armde in Italy, in 1848, 
and won great distinction. With General Nugent, he 
defeated the Roman Republican army, under Durando 
and Ferrara, and relieved Radetzky at Verona. At 
Vicenza and Custazza he acted a distinguished part. For 



t» 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 155 

this latter service he was rewarded with the Order of 
Maria Theresa. 

At a later period of the same year he took Ancona 
after a most obstinate defence, and bombarded Bologna. 

Since he has become Governor of Venetia, and Com- 
mander of the military forces upon the shores of the 
Adriatic, he has added much to the efficiency of the Aus- 
trian Navy. In 1854, he became Commander of the first 
corps of the Austrian army. His talent seems to be, 
merely to execute well the orders given to him. 

Count Stadion is now at the head of the Fifth Corps 
d'Armde. He served in Italy and Hungary during the 
war of 1848-49. He possessed the confidence of his 
superiors, and was regarded as one who could head a bold 
assault, lead a forlorn-hope, or hold a position, with dog- 
ged and obstinate tenacity, against an attack. He is 
reported to have been wounded at the recent battle which 
opened the campaign of 1859, at Montebello. His age 
is sixty. 

A celebrated relative of his was a member of the first 
Ministry of Prince Schwartzenburg, who died in 1852. 
His relative held the Portfolio of Home Aifairs, from 
November, 1848, until May in the following year. 

In 1858, his military corps, the Fifth Corps d'Armee, 
was stationed at Milan. He has been in Italy from that 
time to this. 

Edmond Prince Schwartzenburg, Commander of the 
Third Corps d'Armee, was born in 1803, and holds various 
civil dignities besides his high military position. No par- 
ticularly striking action seems to have raised his name 



156 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

above the ordinary list of Austrian Generals. He saw 
some service in 1848-49, under Radetzkj and Haynau. 
His corps is ordinarily stationed at Vienna. He must 
not be confounded with his relative, Prince Charles Fre- 
deric Schwartzenburg, who commands the Twelfth Corps 
d'Armde stationed at Hermanstadt, in Transylvania. 

They are, both of them, related to the late celebrated 
Austrian Prime Minister, and to the Prince Schwartzen- 
burg who commanded the Allied armies against Napoleon, 
in 1813. 

This family is very numerous, both in the elder and 
younger branches ; and nearly all the male members hold 
high military positions in the Austrian service. 

The history of Prince Frederic Leichstenstein resembles 
closely that of Schwartzenburg. He belongs to a family 
almost regal in its possessions and alliances. He served 
in Italy in 1848. When the Sixth Corps d'Armde was 
stationed at Gratz, in Styria, in 1848, he commanded it. 
He is now about fifty-two years of age. There is no 
evidence that either he or Schwartzenburg possess any 
great military skill or high soldierly qualities, save the 
single one of intense courage. There is also a Prince 
Edward Leichtenstein, who commands the Second Corps 
d'Armee, stationed in Cracovia in 1858. He was born in 
1809. 

General Zobel, who seems to have become the temporary 
Commander of the Seventh Corps d'Armee, was a Colonel 
of Cavalry in the beginning of the Italian campaign of 
1848. He was most thoroughly beaten by the Sardinians 
at Mallona and Delia Corona. The rank of Military- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 157 

Governor of Trent was afterwards conferred upon him, 
and whilst acting in this capacity, he caused, without 
the least justification, a number of Italian prisoners to be 
shot. He is cold, cruel, and implacable. 



iP 



CHAPTER XIII. 



SARDINIAN STATESMEN — COUNT CAVOUR — POSITION OF HIS FAMILY — 
PRINCE BORGHESE — ANECDOTE OP COUNT CAVOUR's FATHER — PRINCE 

D'CARIGNAN CAVOUR's TRAVELS RETURN TO SARDINIA ENTERS 

POLITICS ATTACHES HIMSELF TO THE LIBERAL PARTY CONGRESS OP 

PARIS COUNT d'aZEGLIO HIS CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST HIS SER- 
VICES TO SARDINIA — HIS POSITION IN ITALY — RATAZZI — BBOFFERIOS 
VALERIC, LEADER OF THE LIBERAL PARTY. ^ 

Camille Cavour, whose reputation as a statesman, and 
as liead of the Piedmontese Cabinet, is world-wide, and 
associated with the stirring events of the last five years, 
is a man of immense wealth, being one of the largest 
landed proprietors in . Piedmont. He is the son of a 
noble family of Chieri; a town not far removed from 
Turin, and which once had the advantage of being a little 
Republic in itself. It is said that the family of Cavour 
originally trace their descent from a frail ancestor, who 
listened to the seductions of a Prince of the House of 
Savoy. 

Be this as it may, certain it is, that, until the time of 
the father of the present Count, the Cavour family was 
looked on as one of decayed fortunes. But the father 
of Camille, a man of shrewd intellect, contrived to attach 
himself to the House of Bonaparte, then in the ascendant, 
and become a favorite of the Prince Borghese, whilst he 

1G8 



ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 159 

was Governor of Turin. Borghese attached him to his 
person, in no very honorable position. It is supposed the 
following anecdote can be relied on, as related by a popu- 
lar English writer on Sardinia. 

" One of the favorites of Prince Borghese was a certain 
Giovanina, an opera-dancer of marvellous beauty. The 
lady felt her influence, and liked to show it. On particular 
occasions, instead of going to the apartments of the Prince 
by a private stair-case, she went by the grand entrance of 
the royal palace, and passing by the astonished guards 
reached the ante-chamber. Here she was met by a vener- 
able Count, whose sense of honor allowed him to be the 
valet of a Prince, but was sorely hurt when requested to 
announce the visit of an actress to his master. After a 
momentary hesitation, however, he presented himself in 
the inner-room and performed his office, but with every 
possible mark of annoyance and disgust. The Prince, 
hearing who was coming, understood the reason of the 
nobleman's ill-humor, and said to him, smiling graciously 
we are told, *My dear Count, you are interfering with 
the duties of Count Cavour.' " 

During the time he was in favor with Prince Bor- 
ghese, Cavour laid the first foundations of the immense 
fortune his son enjoys. His principal source of wealth 
arose from his adroitness in profiting by the sales of 
national property then going on ; by which he acquired in 
the territory of Ver colli the principal estates of his family. 

In 1810, Camille, the present Minister, was born. He 
was educated at a military college, but did not pursue the 
career of arms, for, on leaving college he accepted a posi- 



160 ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 

tion in the household of the Prince de Carignan. Aban- 
doning, for some private motive, this position. Count Ca- 
mille spent some years in traveling through Switzer- 
land, France, and England,^ studying the constitutions 
and commercial resources of the various countries in which 
he sojourned. On his return to Turin, he could not but 
mingle in the politics of the day and manifest his opinions 
in a journal which he founded, entitled '' II Risorgimento." 
Count Cavour, from the first attached himself to the Li- 
beral party, adding, however, to the banner of Italy the 
Cross of the House of Savoy, believing the two interests 
to be united. He took no very prominent part in the 
struggle of 1848, and first assumed his place at the head 
of Sardinian afiairs in 1852 ; since which time he has con- 
tinued to direct them. 

Count Camille Cavour, is a man of broad and enlight- 
ened views, possessed of much more prudence and tact 
than is usually displayed by Italians in the administra- 
tion of public afi'airs. His sympathies with England, as 
well as his intimacy with several English statesmen, 
render him the advocate of a Constitutional Monarchy, as 
ofi"ering greater elements of prosperity and stability than 
a Republic. 

His conduct, tact, shrewdness and talent during the 
Congress of Paris, after the Crimean War, has given him 
a high rank as a diplomatist. Count Cavour enjoys the 
unlimited confidence of his Sovereign, and though in Pied- 
mont he has many enemies among the Ultra-Liberals and 
the Church party, the increased prosperity of the Kingdom 
at home, its aggrandizement and importance abroad, fully 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 161 

prove the Minister's talents, and the patriotic spirit which 
inspires him. 

He had the sagacity to perceive that by joining the Allies 
in the Crimean War, he would raise Sardinia to a position 
she could not otherwise attain so easily. The result 
has justified his expectations. France has allied herself 
closely to Sardinia, and the latter has thus been enabled to 
defy its ancient and hated foG, Austria. In 1857, Austria 
broke off all diplomatic intercourse with Sardinia, and it 
has not since been renewed. 

Count Cavour from that hour, and even from an earlier 
period, has labored strenuously to place Sardinia in such a 
position as to enable her to enter upon the war with Aus- 
tria with decided chances of success. He has devoted his 
life to the expulsion of the Hapsburgs from Italy. 

Another of his leading ideas is the union of all Itah^ 
under one constitution. This may not be accomplished 
ia his day, but the consolidation of Northern Italy into one 
nation seems by no means improbable. 

Count Cavour is second in point of ability to no living 
European statesman. 

Massimio d' Azeglio is one of the most brilliant specimens 
of La Giovane Italia. In person handsome, in manners 
refined, in heart a hero, in intellect a poet. Italy has few 
sons of whom she is prouder than of Azeglio. He belongs 
to a noble family of Piedmont. His father was Ambas- 
sador to Rome in 1816. Here Massimio d' Azeglio first 
imbibed the love of art which has distinguished him. 
He studied painting and music. In the art of Raphael, 
whose style he especially studied, he has attained high 

L 



162 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

eminence. The Louvre and the gallery at Turin possess 
pictures by him which hold high rank in the artistic world. 
Massimio d' Azeglio formed a strong friendship in early 
youth for the poet Giusti. Together they went to Milan, 
and here Azeglio married the eldest daughter of the cele- 
brated Italian novelist, Manzoni. 

In addition to genius of the highest order, Azeglio pos- 
sesses the rare gift of versatility, and was so highly en- 
dowed that in all the branches of art he has attempted, 
he has succeeded equally well. Living with Giusti and 
Manzoni in a literary atmosphere, Azeglio was seized with 
an inspiration to write. He accordingly produced a novel, 
entitled "Ettore e' Fieramosca," which, from its elegance 
of style and nobility of sentiment, created a marked sen- 
sation in Italy. Soon after the publication of this work he 
lost his wife. She had been a poet's love, and from the 
time of her death, Azeglio's life appears to have under- 
gone a change. From the arts, poetry, literature and 
music he turned with distaste. She appears to have borne 
away with her all that was ideal or beautiful in his nature. 

We know nothing of her but that she was the daughter 
of Manzoni, the wife of d' Azeglio, and that she died 
young; but her virtues, her merits and her beauties are 
told by the agony of years which her death cost to two 
men of genius. Her father, Manzoni, wept till only two 
years seclusion in darkened rooms saved him from utter 
blindness, and Azeglio bid adieu to his youth when her 
gentle spirit left him. 

Henceforth, Azeglio becomes known to the world as a 
defender of Italian liberties ; as one of the ablest in her 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 163 

cause, which he advocated with his pen, his wealth, his 
influence and his sword. Azeglio, from birth and associa- 
tion, was devoted, however, to the House of Savoy. He 
beheld in this House the natural Sovereigns of Italy, des- 
tined to restore their liberties and rights. He attached 
himself as Aid-de-camp to Durando, and bore an active 
part in the campaign, and was severely wounded near 
Vicenza. 

After the battle of Novara, he was elected to the National 
Assembly, and the young King, Victor Emanuel, selected 
him for his Prime Minister. In 1849 he entered upon 
the arduous duties of his office, and fulfilled them so as to 
conciliate all parties, whilst at the same time he advanced 
the prosperity of his country. Massimio d' Azeglio ac- 
companied Cavour to the Peace Congress in Paris. He 
is a personal friend of the King. M. d' Azeglio, previous 
to 1848, married a rich heiress, daughter of a Swiss 
l3anker, settled like many other Swiss financiers in Milan. 
Although Mad. d' Azeglio is amiable and discreet, and 
has a high position in society, and M. d' Azeglio is in 
every way calculated to flatter the vanity and secure the 
afi'ections of a wife, the marriage has not been a happy 
one, and by mutual consent they have lived separately, 
one residing at Milan and the other at Turin, since within 
a few months of their union. Count d' Azeglio is the 
principal opponent of the Ultra-Liberal Party in Pied- 
mont. 

Amongst the remarkable men mingled in State afi'airs 
is Count Ratazzi, the friend and disciple of Cavour. 
Brofferio is a man of extraordinary eloquence as well as 



164 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of great influence in the Piedmontese Parliament. His 
name is popular among the people, from the political and 
satirical songs he has written, which have obtained for 
him the name of the Beranger of Italy. 

Lorenzo Valerio is a leader of the Liberal Party, who 
first raised his voice, at the danger of his life, in the cause 
of liberty, before liberal ideas had dawned in the mind 
of Charles Albert. He was born at Turin in 1810. He 
is a man of practical habits, careful education, and as a 
political writer ranks as a man of genius. He was the 
founder of a political journal "La Concordia/' which, re- 
stricted as journalism is in Italy, formed quite an event. 

Lorenzo Yalerio, and his character, have been thus hap- 
pily described in a recent work : 

" Valerio is deputy for Casteggio. At the end of last 
year his constituents sent him, as a testimonial of theii' re- 
spect, a silver statue of Dante ; and I was much interest- 
ed in reading the letter by which this testimonial was ac- 
companied. 'We admire you,' it said among other things, 
' because you have not too much attended to our local af- 
fairs, caring rather for the general prosperity of Pied- 
mont and Italy.' Electors who can think thus are worthy 
of such a representative. 

" Lorenzo Valerio, in fine, may be said to be at the head 
in Piedmont of a party which is not Republican, only be- 
cause it hopes that the Sardinian Monarchy will easily 
bring about the salvation of Italy. This party is numer- 
ous, but will become Republican on the day when the Mon- 
archy of Savoy proves by its acts and declarations that 
the Italian cause is not its cause, and that it abandons it. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 165 

It is important that we should take these facts into ac- 
count in our estimate of the state of things over the Alps. 
All men of virtue and principle are ready to sacrifice 
their private vicAVS and opinions to the great object of in- 
dependence and free government ; but if they be called 
upon to cooperate in removing one yoke to put on an- 
other, or in endeavoring to force Italy into adopting 
forms and ideas and arrangements that are disgusting to 
it, they will assuredly stand aloof or oppose." 

Such are the men and the party who are probably pre- 
paring for Italy an intestine struggle, which, should the 
Austrians be conquered, will become as ferocious and ob- 
stinate as that which now animate all in driving the 
foreign conqueror from the soil. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

AUSTRIAN STATESMEN COUNT BUOL SCHAUENSTEIN HIS EARLY CA- 
REER FIRST SERVICE AT LONDON RAPID RISE IN RANK ATTAINS 

THE PREMIERSHIP PEACE CONGRESS RETIREMENT VIEWS OF DO- 
MESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY HIS TALENTS COUNT RECHBERG HIS 

DESCENT SKETCH OF HIS LIFE — HIS CHARACTER AND PROCLIVITIES 

COUNT HUBNER CONNECTION WITH THE ROYAL FAMILY EMBASSY TO 

PARIS COUNT GRUNNE MILITARY TALENTS PRESENT POSITION. 

At the beginning of the present contest between Austria 
and the Allies, Count Buol was Prime Minister of Aus- 
tria. He continued in that position for some months after 
it was apparent that war was inevitable. He conducted 
the intricate negotiations attendant upon these difficulties 
until his retirement. He was the author of the State pa- 
pers which Austria gave to the world as vindications of 
her past actions and future course. No chapter can be 
appropriately written upon the Austrian statesmen of the 
present time without including him, although he no longer 
takes any active participation in the management of pub- 
lic affairs. 

Count Buol belongs to the younger branch of a noble 
family, of the Canton of Grison, in Switzerland. He was 
born on the 17th of May, 1797. His father was for many 
years President of the Germanic Diet as the representa- 
tive of Austria. He had previously held several import- 
ant posts under the old Germanic Empire. 
166 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 167 

Charles Buol prepared for his diplomatic career under 
the direction of his father. From 1816 to 1824 he -vvas 
attached to various legations. In 1824 he was Secretary 
of Legation to London, and served with Bourqueney and 
Gortschakoff. It is rather singular that these three ap- 
prentices to diplomacy should since have all risen to 
high positions in their respective countries; Bourqueney 
in France ; Gortschakoff in Russia ; and Buol in Austria. 

In 1831 he received his first appointment of a supe- 
rior grade. He went as Austrian Minister to the little 
Court of Hesse-Darmstadt. Afterwards he was raised to 
the embassy at Wirtemberg, and his marriage with the 
Princess Caroline Bornstein, (which took place about this 
time,) greatly increased his importance and his worldly 
means. His wife belongs to the elder branch of the Isen- 
burg-Bornstein family, and, at the time of her marriage, 
was lady in Avaiting to the Empress of Austria. 

The revolution of 1848 found Count Buol Minister 
Plenipotentiary at the Court of Turin. As soon as he 
discovered the part Charles Albert intended to take in the 
insurrection in Lombardy, without waiting for instructions, 
he demanded his passports. This energetic proceeding 
was duly appreciated by Prince Schwartzenburg, then 
Prime Minister of Austria, who immediately appointed 
him Minister to St. Petersburg. In 1850 he was recalled 
by the Prince, in order that he might have the benefit of 
his intimate acquaintance with the subjects involved in the 
discussion between Austria and Prussia, relative to the 
Duchy of Holstein. 

In 1851 he went as Ambassador to London. The 



168 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

sudden death of Prince Schwartz enburg, in 1852, occa- 
sioned his recall. He was at once appointed President of 
the Council, with the Portfolio of War. 

He is supposed to have aimed energetically at carrying 
out the internal policy of the great man whom he suc- 
ceeded. That policy led him to cultivate the interests 
and good-will of the middle classes, and to check the 
influence and abate the power of the aristocracy, and to 
centralize the administration of this extensive and hetero- 
geneous empire. Dui'ing the dangers of such a transition 
state he relied upon the army, which he raised to unusual 
strength. 

His foreign policy aimed at reducing the influence of 
Russia in Austria. To eff'ect this, he sought a closer 
alliance with France, by the assiduous cultivation of the 
most friendly feelings. He sought to substitute Austrian 
for Russian protection in the Moldo-Wallachian Provinces. 
He desired, also, to obtain the free navigation of the 
Danube. 

It was mainly through Count Buol's influence over 
Francis Joseph, that Austria was induced to sign the 
treaty of December, 1854, by which Russia was compelled, 
in substance, to concede the four guarantees demanded by 
the Allies. He and Baron HUbner were the Imperial rep- 
resentatives at the celebrated Peace Congress, at Paris, 
in 1856. 

Count Buol has introduced many administrative re- 
forms in commericial and postal matters. He is an 
active, sagacious and moderately progressive statesman. 
His progressive policy has taken the direction of amelio- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 1G9 

ration in material improvements. He has no desire for 
the extension of the political franchises of the different 
nationalities composing this mongrel Empire. Beyond 
question, he is the ablest of Austrian statesmen. His 
qualities of sincerity, and loyalty to his word, have ever 
distinguished him in all the relations of life. It has been 
well said, since his late retirement, that "Austria will 
need him, ere he shall need her." 

Various causes have been assigned for this. Some have 
alleged that he was opposed to the present war from the 
beginning. Others, that he was eagerly seeking to obtain 
a renewal of the Russian Alliance. The former seems 
the more likely to be the true cause. It is highly proba- 
ble that some question of difference concerning the man- 
agement of the war since its commencement, has occurred 
between him and the Emperor. 

The successor of Count Buol is Bernard Count Rech- 
berg. Bavaria is his native country. Born in 1806, 
he, consequently, is now fifty-three years of age. He is 
noble by birth, and belongs to a Bavarian House, the head 
of which is Count Albert De Rechberg-Rothenlowen. 

Count Rechberg, now Prime-Minister of Austria, mar- 
ried Miss Barbara Jones, a sister of Viscount Ranelagh, 
an Irish peer, who distinguished himself under Espartero, 
in Spain, and has since been known as an extremely 
"fast man" about London, alike remarkable for his 
escapades, debts and liasons. 

Count Rechberg's Bavarian origin prevented his rise, in 
Austria, until 1848 ; when he became a favorite with 
Prince Schwartz enburg he rose rapidly. In 1855 he 



170 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

received the appointment of Austrian representative to 
the Diet at Frankfort, and as such, has been, ex-officio, the 
President of that body, until lately recalled to take his 
present place as Prime Minister of Austria. 

He is narrow-minded in his views. His sympathies and 
proclivities are purely dynastic. He bitterly hates the 
middle classes, whom Buol thought to elevate into im- 
portance, as a counterpoise to the aristocracy. Francis 
Joseph could have selected no one who, from the sheer love 
of tyranny, would have better suited his ideas of pure, 
unadulterated absolutism. He has all the ferocity and 
inflexibility of character which distinguished Schwartzen- 
burg, without a tithe of his intellectual force. If it de- 
pends upon him to terminate the present war, he will 
display as much hard-headed obstinacy as Lord North did 
during the Revolutionary war. 

One who has studied his career thoroughly, and who is 
in every way qualified to speak of him, thus describes 
some of the incidents of his life, and sums up his cha- 
racter : 

" With that unflinching boldness which is the conspicu- 
ous virtue in his vehement and irascible nature. Count 
Rechberg escorted Prince Metternich out of Vienna. 
While vacillating attempts were going on at a compromise 
with the revolution, he haughtily disdained to participate 
in what he held to be an ignoble line of policy. But 
when the vessel of the State began slowly to emerge to 
sight out of the dissolving smoke clouds of this terrible 
conflict, and the resolute figure of the cynical Schwartz- 
enburg was beheld quietly holding the helm in his stern 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. , 171 

gripe, then by his side was also seen the active little figure 
of Rechberg. And he stood by his side thoughout the whole 
of his term of office, lending the elaborate and refined 
point of his pungent nature to the military despotism 
which was the sum of Schwartzenburg's break-or-yield 
administration. 

" To all the arbitrary and wanton policy which has im- 
pressed an indelible stamp upon the restoration of the 
House of Hapsburg under the auspices of Prince Schwartz- 
enburg, Count Rechberg has been an active party. It 
is one of his peculiar characteristics to express intense 
contempt for all official considerations, and to avow uncom- 
promising hostility to ^yhat he styles the pedantry of the 
bureaucracy — a hostility quite justified, but by which he 
intends to exculpate the establishment of an absolute ex- 
ecutive resting in a hand exempt from all trammels. 
Absolutist doctrines have been embraced by him as the 
code of a political profession, and he consistently follows 
them through all consequences, being, from cold calcula- 
tion in practice, as thorough-going an Ultramontaine as 
the Emperor is from pious conviction." 

Baron Alexandre Hiibner is the person to whom great 
interest attaches, as being the Austrian Ambassador at 
Paris, to whom Napoleon, at the reception on New Year's 
Day, 1859, gave the first intimation of discord between 
the two Powers, by openly expressing to his representative 
his disapproval of the conduct of the Emperor of Austria, 
with regard to his Italian policy. 

Baron Alexandre Hiibner was born in Vienna in 1811, 
There he was also educated. He was a favorite and pro- 



172 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

tegd of Prince Metternich, who, in 1837, appointed him 
Secretary of the Legation in Paris, under Count Appony. 
In 1841 he occupied a Minister's post in Portugal. In 
1844 he was appointed Consul General of Austria, at 
Leipsic. 

In 1848, the Archduke Regnier, Viceroy of Lombardy, 
confided to Baron Hlibner his diplomatic negotiations and 
correspondence with the Italian Sovereigns. The Baron, 
surprised at the insurrection of Milan, was taken prisoner 
and retained for some months, by the Revolutionists, as a 
hostage — obtaining his liberty by an exchange of prisoners. 

On his return to Vienna, Prince Schwartzenburg gave 
to Baron Hiibner the perilous charge of conveying the 
Imperial family to Olmutz. Prince Schwartzenburg, es- 
teeming highly Hlibner 's honesty, talents, and devotion to 
the House of Hapsburg, employed him in the important 
work of organizing the Empire, under the new Constitu- 
tion, on the accession of the present Emperor. It was in 
the year 1849 that Hiibner succeeded Appony, as Ambas- 
sador to the Court of France. He signed the treaty of 
1856. Baron Hiibner was, personally, much liked by the 
Emperor Napoleon, who made him Grand Officer of the 
Legion of Honor. Baron Hiibner has returned to Vienna 
since the outbreak of hostilities. 

Charles Count Griinne is the present Austrian Minister 
of War. Much of the efficiency and rigor of the army 
will depend upon his fitness for the post. Should he fail 
in his administration of the Transportation, Ordnance, or 
Commissariat Departments of the army, neither Count 
Gyulai nor Baron Hess will be able to effect much. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 173 

He is an officer of high rank in the army, being first 
Aid-de-camp to the Emperor, with the rank of Lieutenant- 
General. He has seen much service, and is reputed to be 
a good soldier. Indeed, in Austria he is regarded as only 
second to Baron Hess, in point of power to move great 
masses of men, on a large theatre of war, with skill and 
vigor. He may yet be called to the field, for it is evident 
that Austria will be forced to call all her available military 
talent into active efi'ort. 



CHAPTER XV. 

FRENCH STATESMEN COUNT WALEWSKI HIS KELATIONSHIP TO NAPO- 
LEON FRIENDSHIP WITH THE DUKE OF ORLEANS ENTERS UPON A 

MILITARY CAREER FAILURE IN THE DRAMA SUCCESS AS AN AUTHOR 

RISE IN DIPLOMACY PRESENT POSITION — COUNT DE MORNY, REPUTED 

HALF BROTHER OF LOUIS NAPOLEON EDUCATION HIS MILITARY CA- 
REER BEET SPECULATION — SHARE JN THE COUP D' ETAT RAPID 

RISE FINANCIAL SPECULATIONS HIS APPEARANCE — DUKE OF PADUA 

HIS TRADITIONAL SYMPATHIES OFFICE PRESENT POSITION PER- 

SIGNY PRESENT POSITION EARLY POVERTY AND STRUGGLES AN 

EDITOR STRANGE CHANGES IN POLITICS INTRODUCTION TO LOUIS 

NAPOLEON THEIR CONNECTION POSITION IN THE REPUBLIC AND EM- 
PIRE MARRIAGE REVIEW OF THE CHARACTERS OF DE MORNY, WA- 
LEWSKI, AND PERSIGNY. 

The distinguished statesman, Count "VYalewski, who, since 
the resurrection of the Napoleon dynasty, has been so 
prominently before the world, is the son of Napoleon I. 
by a beautiful Polish woman of noble birth, "la Countesse 
Walewski," and was born in 1810. He was carefully 
educated, and at an early age displayed great talents. 
With the enthusiasm of youth, he took a profound interest 
in the cause of Poland, and, in 1830, went to London, in 
order to obtain the assistance of England in restoring 
her liberties. 

After the French Revolution of July, Walewski, who 
had been at college with the Duke of Orleans, at the 
174 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 175 

solicitation of the latter, entered the army, where he at- 
tained the rank of Captain of the Fourth Hussars. But 
Walewski's genius, spite of his descent, was not a military 
one, and he soon abandoned the army. 

United by the ties of friendship with the Duke of Or- 
leans, he became a habitue of the Prince's salon, and was 
thus brought into contact with the literary and artistic 
celebrities of the day; a society far more suited to his 
taste than that of camps and barracks. Walewski was 
destined to achieve celebrity with his pen. His first pro- 
duction was a political pamphlet on the African question. 
In conjunction with the distinguished men of the day, he 
founded the Messagee., to which journal he himself was 
one of the principal contributors. In conjunction with 
Alexandre Dumas, he wrote the play of Mile, de Belleville, 
which has acquired celebrity in America through the Eng- 
lish translation, by Fanny Kemble, under the title of 
"The Duke's Wager." Dazzled by his dramatic success, 
and probably blinded to the fact that much of it had 
depended on the genius and reputation of Dumas, he 
attempted a comedy in five acts, called the " School of the 
World." But, although every effort was used by the 
management, in the way of mise en scene, and though the 
principal actress. Mile. Anais, had a heartie\t interest in 
the author, the comedy had but a demi sucees. 

In 1840, AYalewski, having sold his interest in " Le 
3Iessagee' to M. Thiers, began his diplomatic career by a 
mission to Egypt. During the administration of Guizot, 
he accepted several other diplomatic appointments. The 



176 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Revolution of 1848 found him Attach^ to the French Le- 
gation at Buenos Ayres. 

Walewski's sympathies, his very blood, indicated the 
party to which he would belong. From the first he was a 
staunch supporter of Napoleon. He was for some time 
Ambassador at the Court of St. James, and after able ne- 
gotiations with the different Powers of Europe in the difficult 
question of the East, he presided at the celebrated Peace 
Congress, in Paris, in 1856. He has, by his talents and 
personal devotion to the Emperor, deserved the favors 
which, ever since the beginning of the Empire, have been 
showered upon him. J 

Count Walewski is the father of the eldest son of Mile, w 
Rachel. He formally acknowledged him, and endowed 
him with a rich patrimony, and the title of Viscount. 

Count Walewski possesses talents of a high order. His 
administrative abilities will be tested severely during the 
absence of Louis Napoleon ; for he, at last, notwithstand- 
ing the seeming deposition of power in the hands of the 
Empress, is the back-bone of the Government at home. 

To trace the origin of the Count de Morny appears like 
throwing from its pedestal an idol that has been worshipped 
as immaculate. In strict morality, no excuse can be found 
for his birth ; but, in extenuation of poor human frailty, 
perhaps the description of this fascinating Princess, by Lady 
Blessington, a woman renowned for her beauty and her 
passions, may not be misplaced : 

" Though prepared to meet in Hortense Bonaparte, ex- 
Queen of Holland, a woman possessed of no ordinary 
powers of captivation, she has, I confess, far exceeded my 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 177 

expectations. I liave seen her frequently ; and spent two 
hours yesterday in her society. Never did time fly away 
with greater rapidity, than while listening to her conver- 
sation, and hearing her sing those charming little French 
romances, written and composed by herself; which, though 
I had always admired them, never previously struck me 
as being so expressive and graceful as they now proved to 
be. Hortense, or the Duchess de St. Leu, a title she took 
after the fall of Napoleon, until now, (1829,) is of the 
middle stature, slight and well formed ; her feet and ankles 
remarkably fine ; and her whole tournure graceful and 
■ distinguished. Her complexion and hair are fair, and her 
%► countenance is peculiarly expressive ; its habitual character 
being mild and pensive, until animated by conversation, 
when it becomes arch and spirituelle. I know not that I 
ever encountered a person with so fine a tact, or so quick 
an apprehension, as the Duchess de St. Leu. These give 
her the power of rapidly forming an appreciation of those 
with whom she comes in contact, and of suiting the sub- 
jects of conversation to their tastes and comprehensions. 
Thus, with the grave she is serious, with the lively, gay ; 
and with the scientific she only permits just a sufficient 
extent of her own savoir to be revealed to encourage the 
development of theirs. She is, in fact, ' all things to all 
men,' without, at the same time, losing a single portion of 
her own natural character; a peculiarity of which seems 
to be the desire, as well as the power, of sending away all 
who approach her satisfied with themselves, and delighted 
with her. Yet there is no unworthy concession of opinions 
made, or tacit acquiescence yielded to conciliate popularity ; 

M 



178 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

she assents to, or dissents from, the sentiments of others, 
with a mildness and good sense that gratifies those with 
whom she coincides, or disarms those from whom she 
differs. The only flattery she condescends to practice is 
that most refined and delicate of all, the listening with 
marked attention to the observations of those with whom 
she converses ; and this tacit symptom of respect to others 
is not more the result of an extreme politeness, than of a 
fine nature, attentive to the feelings of those around her. 

"It is evident, that in relinquishing all the prerogatives 
of sovereignty, Hortense Bonaparte has not resigned those 
d'une femme aimable qui veut plaire, for she has won by 
her merit an empire over those who have the happiness of 
enjoying her society, perhaps more enviable than the Im- 
perial one she once possessed." 

Such was the woman who, in the year 1811, became the 
mother of the man who bears the title of Count de Morny. 
His father was the Count de Flabault, a brave, handsome, 
dashing Aid-de-camp of the Emperor Napoleon, and a 
distinguished officer. At its birth, this child, who dared 
not claim either father or mother, was confided to his 
grandmother, the Countess de Souza, and educated at the 
Lyce^ Bonaparte, where his chosen friend and companion 
was Edgar Ney de la Moskowa. 

M. de Morny entered the army and served with great 
distinction in Africa, under the Duke of Orleans. He dis- 
played a valor worthy of his origin, was severely wounded 
at the seige of Constantine, and received the Cross of the 
Legion of Honor for having saved the life of General 
Frczel, at the risk of his own. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 179 

Monsieur de Morny in 1838 retired from the army, 
and entered into political economy. He placed himself at 
the head of a manufactory of sugar from beet root, and 
wrote several pamphlets on the subject. The sugar ques- 
tion is one which at that time also occupied the attention 
and pen of the present Emperor. In 1842, M. de Morny 
was elected Deputy. Although he had, in many questions, 
voted with the Ministry under Guizot, he was considered 
as belonging to the liberal party, represented by '''La 
jPresse," and M. de Girardin. 

In 1848, M. de Morny, from his birth and sympathies, 
was a busy agent of the Napoleon faction, and was sup- 
posed to have taken an active part in the planning and 
execution of the coup d'etat, Dec. 2d., 1851. He, a 
thorough man of the world, renowned for his distinguished 
and courtly manners, possessed the most extraordinary self- 
possession and power of disguising his feelings. It is said, 
that on the 1st of December, being told by a lady at the 
opera comique, there would be a general sweep of the As- 
sembly, he replied, affecting complete ignorance, " Indeed, 
then I must contrive to be near the handle, that I, too, 
may not be swept away." It is said, however, that on 
that very evening of the 1st — the evening preceding 
the coup d'etdt — speaking of M. de Thoriguy, whose 
place was already promised to him, he inadvertently made 
use of the past tense instead of the present, and said : " He 
was (instead of he is) a good Statesman." 

The coup d'etdt, which made Napoleon President, made 
Count de Morny Minister of the Interior, or Home De- 
partment. He remained in the Cabinet until 1852, when^ 



180 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

apropos of a discussion with regard to tlie property of the 
Orleans family, he judged it consistent with his dignity 
and his personal friendships to withdraw. He, however, 
continued to be a member of the corps legislatif, as the 
Representative of Clermont, and distinguished himself 
by his talents as an orator and a statesman in each suc- 
cessive session. In 1856, M. D. Morny was appointed 
Ambassador to St. Petersburg, and at the Coronation of 
the Emperor Alexander represented the Emperor and 
Erance with a brilliance and magnificence worthy of both. 

During his residence in Russia, M. de Morny married 
the Princess Yousopoff, now one of the most beautiful and 
fashionable women in Paris. M. de Morny has dipped 
heavily into the rail-road speculations of the day. He was 
largely interested in the Credit 3Iohilier (real estate bank), 
and the 3Iont de Piet (state pawn and loan ofiice), all of 
which speculations have enabled him to realize an immense 
fortune. It has been rumored on the Paris Exchange, that 
de Morny and the Emperor are joint speculators, profiting 
by the political news, which it is in their power frequently 
to originate or of which, at least, they are the first in- 
formed. 

M. de Morny possesses one of the finest picture gal- 
leries in Europe. He is now a member of the Council of 
State. In person he has the look of a thorough man of 
fashion and distinction, resembling his mother in complex- 
ion, and having resemblance enough to the Emperor to con- 
firm their near relationship. 

The French Minister of War, at the present moment, is 
the Duke de Padua, another devoted partizan of the Bo- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859, 181 

naparte family. The Duke's family name is Arrighi. His 
father was a Corsican, whom Napoleon I. created Duo de 
Padua, who died in 1853. Arrighi, the present Duke, 
after remaining two years in the Ecole Poly technique^ re- 
tired, having little sympathy with the Orleans family, into 
private life until 1848, when, openly manifesting his tradi- 
tional sympathies for the Bonaparte family, he was ap- 
pointed Prefet of Versailles, and has ever since occupied 
important offices under Government. 

M. de Persigny deserves mention, although taking no 
active part in the war owing to the fact of his present po- 
sition as Ambasador to Great Britain, whose course, 
though neutral now, may at any time, from a change 
of events, become warlike. Besides M. Persigny is one of 
Louis Napoleon's oldest friends and staunchest adovcates, 
therefore, it is to be supposed, that indirectly by his coun- 
sels, he has in some measure influenced the present course 
of the Emperor. 

The statesman now known by the title of Persigny, is 
son of Captain Fialen, who was killed in 1812, at the 
battle of Salamanca. His youngest son Victor, born in 
1808, left without any inheritance whatever, was brought 
up by his uncle, and placed as a free scholar, for his educa- 
tion, in the College of Limoges. At the age of seventeen 
he was admitted to the School of Cavalry at Saumur. 

Victor from his early associations was a Royalist, but 
the influence of one of the officers at Saumur induced him 
so far to change his opinions, that in 1830 he took an ac- 
tive part in the Revolution of July, which drove the elder 
branch of the Bourbons from the throne. This conduct 



182 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

gave offence to the authorities of the College and the young- 
soldier was dismissed. 

Without fortune, without influence, without even a pro- 
fession, Victor Fialen came to Paris and obtained employ- 
ment as one of the subordinate editors of '"'The Temps,'' 
a journal especially dedicated to the views and doctrines 
of St. Simonism. Victor Fialen was strangely fascinated 
by the fanciful theories of this Sect, and established him- 
self with the Pere Enfantine, the High Priest at Menil- 
montant. This illusion having been dissipated, Fialen 
again relapsed into his Bourbon sympathies, and joined 
the Duchess de Berri in La Vendee. After the failure 
of her enterprise he was attached to a legitimist journal, 
the organ of her cause, and then, for the first time, assum- 
ed the title of Vicomte de Persigny, which had been long 
dormant in his family. 

Some time after this, a great and radical change took 
place in the opinions of Persigny. After 'reading the 
Memorial of St. Helena, he became deeply touched by 
the fate of Napoleon, and profoundly convinced of his 
genius. " This" said Persigny in one of his articles, " is 
the great revelation of the eighteenth century, the true 
law of the modern world, and the great symbol of the 
Western Empires." 

His articles in favor of the Bonapartists, attracted the 
attention of Joseph, ex-King of Spain, who gave him a 
letter of introduction to Louis Napoleon, his nephew, then 
residing at Arenberg. 

From this time dates the great personal attachment 
which subsists between Persigny and the Emperor. From 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 183 

this time, Persigny became not only a devoted but an 
active adherent of the Bonaparte family, straining every 
nerve, and expending his intellect and talents, in re-con- 
structing the party, scattered in the four corners of the 
civilized world. He was Louis Napoleon's companion at 
Strasburg, and having been arrested at the same time as 
the Prince escaped only by the help of Mme. Gordon. 

Nothing daunted by his first failure, and by the difficul- 
ties and privations which it had entailed on him, Persigny 
was found among the foremost of the Prince's adherents, 
at Boulogne. He was arrested with Louis Napoleon, but 
being of less importance than his chief, was after a few 
months' imprisonment, released on parole within the limits 
of the town of Versailles. During these days of political 
inactivity he wrote a curious book, entitled " The use to 
which the Pyramids of Egypt were destined," intended to 
prove that these gigantic constructions were meant as 
protections<i^r the valley of the Nile against the sands 
of the desert. 

The revolution of 1848 sounded like a tocsin in the ears 
of the Bonapartists. Persigny rushed into the struggle, 
and with untiring zeal advocating the Bonapartist's cause, 
prepared the favorable result of the election of the 10th 
of December. M. de Persigny was one of the few initiated 
into the secret of the coup d'etdt. On that day, placing 
himself at the head of the 42d regiment of the line, he 
took forcible possession of the hall of the Legislative 
Assembly. 

The Napoleon dynasty once again established, M. do 
Persigny became one of its most energetic upholders. In 



184 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

1852 he succeded De Morny as Minister of the Interior, a 
position which he occupied until 1854. In 1855 he was 
sent as Ambassador to London. 

M. de Persigny married, in 1852, the only daughter of 
the Prince de la Moskowa (Ney) ; on which occasion the 
Emperor bestowed on him the title of Count, making him 
at the same time a wedding present of half a million of 
francs. 

These three statesmen, Walewski, De Morny and Per- 
signy, all personal friends of Napoleon, two of whom are 
united to him if not by legal, at least by ties of blood, 
have greatly contributed, first to the establishment, and 
next to the aggrandizement of the new Napoleonic era. 
They are all men of action ; men who have grappled with 
the difficulties of life ; men who have achieved their own 
position. Such men do not govern a people by tradition 
or theory, but by the experiences of their own lives, by a 
personal knowledge of the necessities, chlR'acters and 
requirements of their own times. They are men freed from 
prejudice, acquainted with all the progressive ideas of the 
age, ready for every emergency, undaunted by reverses, 
calm amid prosperity ; men personally devoted to the 
Emperor, for on him hangs their own fortunes, their own 
importance, their own power. 

Napoleon has displayed great perspicacity in the choice 
of his counsellors. Self-reliant, he has believed in the 
men around him who had nothing but their own intellects 
and firmness to advance and sustain them ; he relied on 
them, for he knew that his cause was theirs, and that they 
in turn relied on him. 




^adLaidi. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

DUCHY OF MODENA BOUNDARIES POPULATION RESOURCES — REVENUE 

ARMY METROPOLIS — rITS EARLY HISTORY CONQUEST BY THE FRENCH 

ITS RETURN TO THE HAPSBURGS ITS PRESENT RULER HIS CHA- 
RACTER MIRANDOLA CARRARA PRESENT POSITION OP THE DUCHY. 

Among the Italian States whose fate is involved directly 
in the present Italian contest, is the Duchy of Modena^ 
ruled over by Duke Francis V. He is allied both by 
blood and marriage to the House of Hapsburg. The 
Duchy is bounded on the North by the Lombardo- Vene- 
tian Provinces, East by the States of the Church ; South 
by the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and Lucca ; South- West 
by the Gulf of Genoa and West by Parma. Its area, in- 
cluding recent acquisitions, is 2,073 square miles. Its 
population in 1850 was 586,458. A more recent census, 
that of 1857, places it at 604,512, being 291 persons to 
the square mile. 

The Apennines traverse a portion of the country and 
render it mountainous. Mount Cimone, the highest point 
which this range attains within the limits of Modena, is 
about 7,000 feet high. The climate is salubrious and 
healthy ; the soil fertile, especially in the vallies and upon 
the plains. Its mineral productions consist chiefly of 
marble and iron. It has many medicinal springs. It is a 

singular fact that the wells, called now popularly Arte- 

185 



186 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

sian, were known in Modena long before they were used in 
Artois. 

The products of the country are maize, wheat, rich 
wines, honey and silk. 

The names of the Provinces are Carrara, Frignano, 
Guastalla, Garfagnana, Lunigiana, Massa, Modena and 
Keggio. These all have a standing army of 3,500 in time 
of peace. Its army, when upon a war footing, consists of 
19,956 — an enormous army for so small a State. This 
fi.ict alone shows to what an extent the oppression of their 
people has been carried by the rulers of Italy ; but the 
enormous amount of revenue raised from so small a pop- 
ulation, equally evinces the fact. The revenue nearly 
ten years ago was $1,682,200. It is reputed to have 
reached within that period, more than once, the sum of 
two millions. 

The chief city, where the Court resides, is that from 
which the Duchy takes its name. It is finely laid out with 
broad and handsome streets, and has a population of over 
30,000. But what is this to its library of one hundred 
thousand volumes, and three thousand manuscripts — vo- 
lumes and manuscripts of which Muratori and Tiraboschi, 
the great historians of Italy, were successively the custo- 
dians. 

Among these written monuments oi Italy's past glory 
and fame, these great students had spent years upon years 
of their lives. There they had been imbued with that love 
and admiration of all that was great and noble in her 
chronicles and with hatred of all that was cruel and bloody. 
There they had caught the living inspiration which glows 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 187 

and burns through their pages ; pages which mingled their 
own with their country's history and made them both im- 
mortal. 

The Duchj of Modena came into possession of the 
House of d' Este in the 13th Century, through Obizzo, 
who, in 1288, was proclaimed Lord of Modena, — the State 
not having been erected into a Marquisate until nearly a 
century later, nor into a Duchy until 1452. The House 
of d' Este, however, reigned as independent Sovereigns until 
Hercules III., who, dying in 1803 without male issue, left his 
possessions to his daughter, Marie Beatrix. She married 
the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, then Governor (for his 
brother the Emperor, Francis I.,) of Milan. Modena was 
by Napoleon included in the Kingdom of Italy, and the 
Duchess of Modena, with her husband, retired to Vienna, 
w^here she died. 

When the European Powers, after the great agitator was 
safe in St. Helena, set about putting things in their pro- 
per places, Francis I., the eldest son of Marie Beatrix, was 
put into possession of the inheritance she had brought as a 
dowry to her husband, the Archduke Ferdinand, and hence- 
forth Modena fell into the possession of the all-grasping 
House of Hapsburg. Although the present Sovereigns 
have a distinct and positive right to reign in Modena, 
the influence whichr guides affairs is entirely Austrian. 
There is even existing a treaty by which the Dukes of 
M5dena consent to the passage of the Austrian armies 
through their territories, and, their sojourning in them in 
case of war. 

The present Duke of Modena, Francis V., born June 



188 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

1st, 1819, son of Francis IV., and grandson of Marie 
Beatrix, succeeded his father in 1846. He married Alde- 
gonde, daughter of Louis of Bavaria. His sister, Marie 
Therese, is married to Henri, Count de Chambord, form- 
erly known as the Duke de Bordeaux, and recognized by 
his partisans as Henri V. of France. This union of the 
two old races of Bourbon and Hapsburg has never proved 
prosperous, and the effect of it would prove retrograde for 
the countries over which they expect to preside, should 
Henri ever be called to the French throne. 

The policy of the Duke of Modena is the least liberal 
in Italy, and, individually, he is a narrow-minded tyrant, 
whose cruelties, persecutions, and oppressions have been 
completely out of proportion to the size of his posses- 
sions. He is immensely rich, grasping, and avaricious, 
besides being a bigot, and a man totally destitute of per- 
sonal merit. 

Mirandola, a strongly fortified town of Modena, belonged 
formerly to a great family of Condottieri, and was sold to 
the family of d'Este in 1711, and now forms a part of the 
Duchy of Modena. 

Massa di Carrara, at the death of Aldaran Cibo, in 1731, 
fell into the hands of his daughter Maria Theresa, who, 
in 1741, married Hercules III., (d'Este,) Duke of Modena. 
She left it — having no son — to her daughter, Marie Beat- 
rix, who in her turn brought it with Modena to her hus- 
band, the Archduke Ferdinand. 

The town of Carrara, situated on the Lavenza, is renowned 
throughout the world for its quarries of white marble, which 
are also a source of incalculable wealth to the Sovereign. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 189 

It is said that the Pantheon at Rome was built of marble 
from these quarries. The white marble of Carrara was ce- 
lebrated five centuries ago : 

*'E vedemmo CaiTara ove la gente 
Trove il candido marmo in tanta copia 
Che assai n' avrebbe tutto 1' oriente" 



The working of the quarries gives a peculiar feature to 
the town, and draws towards it many students and sculp- 
tors from whom, in 1848, numbers of volunteers were re- 
cruited for the cause of liberty, and who, probably, are 
only biding their time to find a fitting opportunity to join 
the national standard. As yet, it still adheres to its here- 
ditary Sovereign. The reigning Duke inherited, from his 
father, the hatred and contempt of his subjects. 



CHAPTER XYII. 

THE DUCHY OF PARMA GEOGRAPHY EXTENT PRODUCTIONS — GOVERN- 
MENT ARMY REVENUE CHIEF CITY UNIVERSITY AND STUDENTS 

HISTORY OF ITS EARLY RULERS HOW THE BOURBONS BECAME ITS 

SOVEREIGNS ABDICATION OF DUKE CHARLES HIS EARLY LIFE EC- 
CENTRICITIES BARON WARD EMPRESS MARIA LOUISA HER LASl 

YEARS DUKE CHARLES III. HIS BRUTALITY LOUISE DE BOURBON — 

THE REVOLUTION OF 1859. 

Parma comprises the two Duchies of Parma and Placentia 
and the Principality of Landi. It forms a compact State, 
which is bounded on the North by Austrian Italy, East by 
Modena, and South and West by Tuscany and Sardinia. 
There are 1656 square miles in Parma proper, and 1051 
in Placentia, amounting to 2712 square miles in all. The 
whole State is enclosed by the Po and the Apennines. In 
the Southern part, numbers of these Apennine peaks run 
up to a great height. It has no navigable streams rising 
within its own borders. All, save the Po, which waters 
its Northern boundary, are rapid mountain torrents. It 
has a few small, isolated, but beautiful and picturesque 
lakes. 

The air is mild and climate genial, save in some of the 
marshy fens bordering on the Po, where malarious exha- 
lations arise. The lower lands are largely occupied with 
orchards and vineyards. The loftier ranges of hills are 
190 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 191 

covered with forest trees, the wood of which is of a very 
hard, durable character. The soil yields all the cereals, 
besides tobacco and hemp. Irrigation is largely practised 
here, as in Lombardy and Sardinia. 

The minerals are limited, but are highly prized. The 
manufactures consist of silk, linen and cotton goods, 
paper, gunpowder, hides, tobacco, brass, earthenware, 
candles, soap, and a' species of refined wax. Its agricul- 
tural products are cattle, hogs, nut-oil, wine and limes. 

The Government is very simple in its construction. It 
is a pure absolutism — all power resides in the Sovereign, 
who is styled Duke of Parma. The Code Napoleon has 
been taken as the basis for the administration of the law. 
There can, however, be little dispensation of justice where 
the Judges are entirely dependant upon the sovereign will 
for the tenure of their office. 

The army, in time of peace, amounts to 4,148 men, and 
when upon a war footing, to 5,672. According to the 
census of 1857, Parma has a population of 499,835, being 
a population of 233 to the square mile. The national 
debt of this State was, in 1854, $2,368,000. In 1847, 
when Maria Louisa, the widow of Napoleon and Duchess 
of Parma, died, there was more than money enough in the 
public treasury to have paid off the State debt. But it 
was not then done, and the result is painfully apparent. 
There is yearly levied upon this population of about five 
hundred thousand people, between a million and a quarter 
and a million and a half of dollars of taxation. This is 
enormous, when the fact is considered that at least one- 
third of the whole area of the State is not susceptible of 
cultivation. 



192 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

It is not wonderful, then, that at the prospect of a change 
of government, the Parmesans have revolted from the rule 
of the reigning family, have driven out their oppressors, 
and sought shelter under the Constitutional Government 
of Sardinia. The overthrow of Austria cannot, certainly, 
make their condition worse. 

The capital of this Duchy is Parma, from which it 
derives its name. It is located upon an affluent of the Po. 
The distance of Parma from Milan is only seventy-two 
miles. In the Ducal and Public Libraries are no less than 
124,000 volumes. It has various public institutions, of a 
most valuable and instructive character. The Archduke 
and his Court reside in the capital, where their Supreme 
Tribunal of Justice holds its sessions. 

The University of Parma, so celebrated for its learning, 
and the immense number of students which frequented its 
halls formerly, was suppressed in 1831 ; when the profes- 
sors, students, and even the janitors, were members of the 
society of " Young Italy." It has since been feebly re- 
placed by a school called the School of Four Faculties. 
But, from the recent conduct of the students of this insti- 
tution, they seem able and willing to emulate the conduct 
of their brothers of thirty years ago. 

Parma, with Placentia, was given by Pope Paul III. to 
his son Pierre Farnese, in 1855, by whose descendants it 
was governed until the extinction of the dynasty, when 
Philip, King of Spain, claimed it in right of his wife, 
Elizabeth Farnese, and took possession of Parma, in right 
of his father, in 1731. It was afterwards ceded, for a short 
time, to the Emperor Charles VI. of Germany, and finally 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 193 

merged into Napoleon's Italian conquests, and was given to 
his sister Eliza, wiio reigned there as Queen of Etruria. 

By the treaty of 1815, Parma, together with Placentia 
and Guastalla, was erected into a Duchy and assigned to 
the Empress Maria Louisa for life. At her decease, in 
1847, by the same treaties, Parma was to be the heritage 
of the Duke of Lucca, and Lucca was transferred to Tus- 
cany. The Duke of Lucca is a Bourbon, being descended 
from Philip, fourth son of Elizabeth Farnese and Philip 
v.. King of Spain, grandson of Louis XIV. ; on whom, 
by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Parma had been 
settled. 

The last Duke of Parma had been Duke of Lucca till 
December, 1847, when he succeeded Maria Louisa. The 
Duke was one of the most eccentric specimens of the 
degenerated house of Bourbon, as exemplified so terribly 
in Spain and at Naples. 

Charles Louis de Bourbon, who was forced to abdicate 
in favor of his son, in 1848, was the most grotesque 
little tyrant that ever "played fantastic tricks before 
high Heaven." In his youth he rushed from capital to 
capital, committing the most extraordinary freaks, spending 
enormous sums that his poor Liliputian Kingdom had to 
pay, and surrounding himself with dissolute companions, 
of whom he afterwards made Chamberlains and officers of 
State. He had a great mania for theology, and by turns 
professed the doctrines of the Church of Rome, of Luther, 
and of Photius. He had in his palace a chapel in which 
the Greek rites were performed. Finally, however, he 
returned to Catholicism and spent his time with the Fran- 

N 



19-i ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

ciscan Monks at Camiore. This did not prevent him from 
cordially detesting Pius IX. 

The favorite of this Prince was the notorious Thomas 
Ward, a Yorkshire groom, whom he took from the stables 
of the Duke of Modena, and elevated to the rank of Cham- 
berlain and Prime-Minister, and to whom he finally gave 
the title of Baron. Ward, though a man of coarse habits, 
appears to have possessed the common sense of a John 
Bull, and to have made use of it, as far as his limited 
education would allow. Ward had also charge of the 
education of the only son of the Duke, who, unfortunately, 
with all the vices of his father, possessed none of his 
intellect, and was merely a dissipated, unprincipled, ex- 
travagant youth, who ill-treated his mother, delighted in 
gross language, and laughed at all authority. He was 
thoroughly feared and detested by his subjects, who saw his 
advent to power with horror. 

The Parmesans had been for many years comparatively 
happy, under the mild government of Maria Louisa, a 
common-place, sensual woman, whose vices had not passed 
the threshold of her palace, until in her latter years, when 
she became exacting and avaricious. They dreaded the 
advent of the family of Lucca, known all over Europe 
for its vices, cruelties and absurdities. Maria Louisa, 
looked on with contempt by all devoted to the Bonapartes, 
was much loved in her own dominions. The Italians 
looked with lenient eyes on her intrigues with her one- 
eyed Chamberlain Count Neipperg, to whom, it is said, she 
was finally married. Living secluded in her palace, she 
was almost forgotten, — especially as no cruel or arbitrary 
act came to remind her subjects of her existence. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 195 

For the Duke Charles III., the pupil of Ward, the igno- 
rant, dissolute Prince, a man of many vices and low 
tastes, a wife was found in the person of one of the most 
accomplished and distinguished Princesses of Europe, 
Louise de Bourbon, the eldest child of the Due de Berri, 
and the grand-daughter of Charles X. This Princess, 
born in Paris in 1819, had been almost entirely educated 
by her aunt, the unfortunate Duchess D' Augouleme, 
daughter of Marie Antoinette. 

Her mother, the Duchess de Berri, by her marriage with 
the Count Lucchese Palli, having alienated herself from 
her family, the Princess was brought up at the Court of 
Austria, and of course in all the traditionary principles 
of the two most anti-progressive races of Princes in all 
Europe, — the Bourbons and Hapsburgs. Her marriage 
with the Duke Charles, her cousin, could therefore not be 
conducive to the happiness of her subjects, and certainly 
was not calculated to insure' her own. This union was ter- 
minated by the assassination of her husband, by an 
Italian patriot, on March 26, 1854. Since that time the 
Duchess of Parma has been Regent of the dominions 
for her son Robert I., born in 1848. 

On the first outbreak of the present war, the Duchess- 
Regent left Parma with her children, and the Duchy has 
since been in the hands of a Provisional Government. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

GRAND DUCHY OF TUSCANY THE RECENT REVOLUTION PRINCE NAPOLEON 

AT LEGHORN HIS PROCLAMATION EXTENT OF THE DUCHY POPULA- 
TION GEOGRAPHY PRODUCTIONS ELBA GOVERNMENT TRADE 

REVENUE ARMY THE CITY OF FLORENCE ITS PALACES PITTI 

MEDICIS HOW TUSCANY CAME UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF AUSTRIA 

LEOPOLD II. 1848 HIS CONDUCT THEN AND SINCE A PROCLAMATION 

— CITY OF LEGHORN — ITS APPEARANCE — PISA — HER PRESENT CONDI- 
TION POPULATION. 

The most important of the States of Central Italy, 
which has voluntarily become involved in the present 
war, is the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The Florentines 
rose and expelled their Duke, and sent to Victor Emanuel 
for a Governor to take his place. This Governor is to 
rule temporarily, or until the end of the war, when the 
internal administration of the Duchy will be reconstituted. 
Indeed, upon so firm a basis has the revolution been estab- 
lished, that Prince Napoleon has landed, at the head of a 
body of French troops, at Leghorn. In a proclamation, 
he quiets any alarm the Tuscans may have felt at this 
demonstration, by declaring that his purposes are of a 
purely military character, and that he will in no wise 
interfere with their civil afiairs. In this disavowal of any 
purpose of conquest and permanent occupation, is plainly 

perceptible the shrewd sagacity of the Emperor. Had 
196 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 197 

it not been made, the other States of Italy which have not 
yet given any open demonstration against the Austrians, 
might have been deterred in their purpose, had they 
discovered they were only to fight for a change of masters. 

This important State has no less than 8,586 square 
miles of territory ; according to a census taken in 1858 it has 
a population of 1,793,967. In 1852, the population was 
1,778,021. The increase then in its population has only 
been 15,956 in the space of six years, when there was no 
war in Italy to devastate her territories and occasion a 
waste of human life. This fact speaks volumes relative 
to the exacting tyranny under which the country has 
groaned. This slight increase cannot be accounted for 
upon the ground of emigration ; for the Tuscans are pro- 
verbially opposed to leaving their country unless com- 
pelled. 

The Duchy is bounded Westwardly by the Mediter- 
ranean; North- Westwardly, by Modena and Sardinia; on 
the North, by Modena, Parma, and Sardinia ; and to the 
East and South by the Papal States. It has about 150 
miles of sea coast, upon which there is more than one fine 
harbor ; much of it is low, being covered with marenna, or 
swamps. Through the interior runs the Arno, so cele- 
brated in story and song, with its wide, rich, fertile valley 
smiling and glowing in abundant fulness beneath a radi- 
ant sun. Within its limits the Apennines do not attain 
near the loftiness to which their peaks ascend in Parma 
and Modena. They are quite modest, not stretching 
themselves up more than 4,200 feet : they, on an average, 
have an altitude of 1900 feet. About one-half of the 



198 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

territory is under cultivation, and its productions are very 
great. The other half of the territory consists of natural 
pasture land, or of forest. One-third of the tillable land 
is covered with vineyards ; one-twelfth of the whole super- 
ficial area with olive-yards, orchards, gardens, and 
meadows. The favorite crops are maize and wheat. On 
the flat marshy lands a vast deal of rice is grown. The 
crops of less importance are barley, rye, and pulse. 

There is annually a deficiency in the supply of bread 
stufis. This is partially made up by importations from 
abroad, ,and by the domestic use of the chestnut. There 
need not be any such deficiency were an improved method 
of culture adopted by the Tuscan farmers. 

The manufacture of oil and the raising of silk attract a 
good deal of attention. There are about 250,000 pounds 
per year, of the latter article produced in Tuscany. 

The Island of Elba, once the home and Kingdom of the 
great Emperor, belongs to the Grand Duchy. It has been 
famous, in all ages, for its production of iron. 

The Government, like those of Parma and Modena, is a 
purely absolute one. The will of the Monarch is the only 
standard of right, and the only test of justice. It is true 
there are forms which the people may observe in the ad- 
minstration of law ; for there are Courts which pretend to 
pronounce decisions. But the bulwark of personal liberty, 
the trial by jury, is unknown. It is an institution which 
has never yet been planted vigorously upon Italian soil. 

The trade of Tuscany is not very great. What it pos- 
sesses chiefly goes through Leghorn. The commercial 
shipping, which passed through that port in 1853, com- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 199 

prised 126 square-rigged vessels, and 911 small vessels, 
chiefly coasting craft. 

The public debt of Tuscany is stated at $6,900,000. Its 
revenue, in 1853, amounted to $5,649,184. During the 
same year the army was estimated at 15,376. In 1858, 
the number of its soldiers was 17,205. This statement of 
the amount of her revenue and the size of her army indi- 
cates clearly the extent to which the people of this small 
State have been misgoverned. They desire any change, 
even a change of masters. It is no wonder, then, that 
they have sought shelter under the wing of Sardinia, and 
expelled the petty tyrant who has reigned over them since 
1824. 

Firenza la Bella is situated in a lovely, fertile, and 
flowery plain, through the centre of which flows the Arno. 
The beauties of Florence, the luxuriant fertility of its soil, 
are too renowned to need description. Florence, the city, 
is an imposing mass of palaces, a city of individual force, 
where every palace seems literally to have been its lord's 
castle, and to have been constructed and fortified for re- 
sistance and defence. In a Republic consisting of nobles 
and merchant princes such stongholds were frequently 
brought into requisiton. 

The Palazzo Pitti, in which the royal family now reside, 
was built by a merchant name Luc Pitti, and is the largest 
edifice ever built by a private citizen. His wealth, of 
course, excited the envy of the Medicis, and after the 
death of Cosmo, Pietro de Medicis seized upon it, and it 
has ever since belonged to the rulers of Florence. It 
contains the celebrated Pitti gallery, whilst in the Palazzo 



200 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Vecchio is the gallery of the Medicis, scarcely less valu- 
able. 

Until 1527, Florence under the title of the Florentine 
Republic, was governed by Magistrates, amongst whom 
were the renowned Medici, the last branch of which ex- 
pired in 1737. 

After his death, Don Carlos of Spain, was named Grand 
Duke of Tuscany ; but the treaty of Vienna, of 1735, 
having conferred on Don Carlos the sovereignty of the 
two Sicilies, Tuscany was given to Francois de Lorraine, 
Due de Bar, who had married Maria Theresa of Austria, a 
daughter of Charles VI. 

Hence the influence of Austria over Tuscany. The 
present Grand Duke, who also bears the title of Archduke 
of Austria, is a son of a brother of the Emperor Francis 
I., the contemporary of Napoleon I. He married a Prin- 
cess of Saxony, who died in 1832, leaving him one daugh- 
ter. In 1833, he married Marie Antoinette, daughter 
of Francis I., King of Naples, by whom he has had six 
children. 

The hereditary Grand Duke of Tuscany, Prince Ferdi- 
nand, who is in the Austrian service, accompanies the Em- 
peror of Austria in the Italian campaign. In the outbreak 
of 1848, the Duke of Tuscany, greatly intimidated, made a 
proclamation, in which he declared that " the period for the 
regeneration of Italy had arrived," and in order to con- 
tribute his share to this regeneration, he offered a consti- 
tution to his subjects. This, however, did not prevent 
his flying with the Pope to Gaeta, where he remained until 
the defeat of the Italian patriots. When an end was put 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 201 

to the war of Independence, full sway was restored to the 
Austrian bayonets. 

On his return, probably owing to the influence the Pope 
acquired over him in his exile, and perhaps in revenge for 
the exceeding fright he had received, he became more 
illiberal than ever, contriving to frustrate the mainte- 
nance of the Constitution, and sinking himself into abject 
bigotry and cruelty. His persecution of the Madiai for 
reading the Bible to a Catholic servant, and for having the 
sacred volume in their house, will sufficiently characterize 
him. 

At the first outbreak of the war, the Grand Duke Leopold 
II. retired from his dominions, and the Tuscans have placed 
themselves under the protection of Victor Emanuel, who 
is now Lieutenant of the Kingdom. The King of Sardinia 
has sent to the Tuscans his son-in-law. Prince Napoleon, 
and has issued the following proclamation : 

"Tuscan Soldiers. — On the first report of a national war you sought 
a Captain to lead you against the enemies of Italy. I accepted the com- 
mand, it being my duty to give order and discipline to all the forces of 
the nation. You are no longer soldiers of an Italian Province — you 
form part of the Italian army. Judging you worthy of fighting by the 
side of the brave soldiers of France, I place you under the orders of my 
beloved son-in-law, Prince Napoleon, who has been intrusted by the 
Emperor of the French with important military operations. Obey him 
as you would obey me. His thoughts and affections are the same as 
mine and those of the generous Emperor who has descended into Italy 
as the champion of a just cause, and the defender of our national rights. 
Soldiers ! the days cf bold efforts have arrived. I count upon you ; you 
must uphold and increase the honor of Italian arms. 

"VICTOR EMANUEL." 
The principal sea port of the Tuscan dominions is Liv- 



202 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

orno, or Leghorn, on tlie Mediterranean, about forty-five 
miles from Florence. This city owes its prosperity to the 
Medicis, who wisely understood the importance of a port 
possessed of easy access to the Levant, and opening to 
Tuscany the trade of the whole w^orld. Leghorn almost 
equals in extent the capital city, Florence ; but, unlike 
Florence, which is the art-museum of the world, it is wholly 
deficient in any thing but what appeals to real life and 
commercial interests. Still, Leghorn has a physiognomy 
of her own, from the extraordinary mixture of its popula- 
tion. Arabs, Turks and Jews from the Levant, Ameri- 
cans, Englishmen, Russians and Spainards, all in their 
national costumes, crowd her streets and her port. 

The third city of Tuscany in importance is Pisa, which 
was once a sea-port, by means of the Arno, (as London is 
by the Thames,) but the alluvium deposited through many 
years by the riyer, has taken this advantage from her. 
Once it was a Republic, and rivalled Genoa in riches and 
prosperity. But abandoned by the sea, decimated by 
plague, famine, and earthquake, besides being perpetually 
assailed by the petty Princes of Italy, Pisa subsided into 
an insignificant Power, retaining nothing but her climate, 
position, and mineral baths, to distinguish her, or to at- 
tract strangers towards her. 

The Pisans possess the characteristics of a subdued race. 
They are gentle, afiable, and hospitable, and have taken 
no active part in the war of Lidependence, and did not 
express themselves openly, as dissatisfied with the Austrain 
rule. There is a railroad from Leghorn to Pisa, and thence 
to Florence. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE WAR EYEXTS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING ITALIAN DISPOSITION TO 

CONSPIRACY — MAZZINI REMONSTRANCES OF THE WESTERN POWERS 

DECLARATION OF THE EMPEROR DEBATE BETWEEN PALMERSTON AND 

D' ISRAELI AUSTRIA AND SARDINIA ARMING SPEECH OP COUNT 

CAvouR — England's interposition — lord cowley — sketch of 

HIM WHAT CONDITIONS COUNT BUOL WOULD ACCEPT RUSSIA PRO- 
POSES A PEACE CONGRESS THE FIVE GREAT POWERS CONSENT SUD- 
DEN INVASION OF SARDINIA BY AUSTRIA THE FRENCH HASTEN TO THE 

ASSISTANCE OF VICTOR EMANUEL. 

For years past, ever since 1849, there liave been con- 
stant popular outbreaks in various portions of Italy. In- 
deed, it may be said, with entire truthfulness, there has 
not been a moment when a conspiracy against some of the 
ruling powers, either in an embryonic, a partially com- 
plete, or full-fledged form, has not existed. Such a con- 
spiracy has not always necessarily broken into open re- 
bellion. But the Italians have always possessed secret 
means of conveying intelligence, of discovering any fresh 
outrage their rulers have entertained the idea of perpetrat- 
ing upon humanity, or the power of secreting conspicuous 
rebels or outlaws, for months together, despite the hosts 
of soldiers, spies, and sbirri, employed by their tyrants. 
This disposition to conspiracy has been kept alive because 

men naturally seek some method of avenging deadly 
203 



204 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

wrongs and of getting rid of those who commit them. 
But the active head, he in whom all these plots centre, 
from whom they radiate, their originator, constructor, and 
manager is Guiseppe (Joseph) Mazzini. 

For thirty years he has not let the tyrants of the Pen- 
insula rest. Twice, since his able and manly government 
of Rome, has he made descents upon Italy, but they were 
either premature, or those whom he expected to assist him 
most materially, were found wanting at the last moment. 
He has displayed sufficient activity to keep the eyes of all 
the oppressed in Italy upon him, as one to whom they 
would naturally look for advice and consolation in the 
hour of need. 

The rulers of Italy themselves have been so terribly 
cruel and barbarous in their treatment of their subjects, 
as to have called for the interference of the great Western 
European Powers in the way of friendly remonstrance. 
This was true in the case of both Naples and Rome. Even 
Austria has been dragged before the tribunal of the civil- 
ized world for her conduct in Italy, and dared not enter 
the plea of "Not Guilty." She entered a special demurrer 
to the jurisdiction of the court. 

The continued joint armed occupation of the States of the 
Church by Austria and Prance has proved another source 
of irritation. Those two powers, with the hate of centuries 
smouldering in their breasts, are not likely to stand armed, 
face to face, within the same foreign territory, and not 
have continued causes for a renewal of their hate oc- 
curring. 

This and other causes of rivalry led the Emperor of 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 205 

France, at his reception, on last New Year's day, to de- 
clare to Baron Hiibner, the Austrian Ambassador, in most 
emphatic language, his disapproval of the conduct of his 
Imperial Master. The words of disapproval were so marked 
in their tone, their utterance so unusual as to time and 
place, that they created a decided sensation in the politi- 
cal and diplomatic world. Stocks fell. All the Bourses 
and Exchanges in Europe witnessed countenances white 
with anxiety. Attempts were made everywhere in the 
financial world to realize. Grave Ministers shook the wigs 
of state with solemnity, and felt oracular. In short, so 
great a jar did this occurrence create among financial and 
commercial interests, that Louis Napoleon felt it to be 
necessary to assure the French Legislative body, that "he 
believed the disagreements with Austria could be amicably 
settled." 

This declaration was made on the 7th of February. It 
had but a partially reassuring. efi"ect. This was evinced 
by a debate which took place in the British Parliament. 
In that debate Lord Palmerston and D'Israeli were the 
principal speakers. The argument of each pointed to the 
conclusion that there was great danger of a collision be- 
tween the troops of France and Austria within the limits 
of the Papal States. The Chancellor of the Exchequer 
declared that he had received assurances that the troops 
of both should be withdrawn. Neither of these statesmen 
seemed to imagine that there was any other immediate 
point of collision. Both forgot, or ignored, the standing 
causes of diff*erence in the Austro-Sardinian quarrel. 

But the conduct of Austria and Sardinia showed that 



206 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

all the wise judgments of men who, from their position, 
ought to have been able to foresee events so near in the 
future, were utterly at war with the facts. During the 
months of January and February, Austria kept pouring 
large masses of men into Italy, under the command of her 
very best Generals. She collected five thousand laborers, 
from all parts of Italy, to assist in the construction of three 
immense new forts, at Venice. These forts were to be 
finished within six weeks from the time of their com- 
mencement. 

Meanwhile, Sardinia was not idle. Count Cavour asked 
for a loan of $10,000,000. There was a long debate in the 
Sardinian Chambers upon the subject of granting it. In 
closing that debate Count Cavour observed : 

"Austria has lately assumed a menacing attitude toward 
us. She has increased her military forces at Placentia.* She 
has collected very large forces upon our frontiers. There- 
fore the necessity arises for us to look to the means for the 
defence of the State. The English alliance has been the 
constant care of our whole political life. We have always 
considered England as the impregnable asylum of liberty. 
The cries of suffering coming from Bologna and Naples 
reach the banks of the Thames ; the tears and groans of 
Milan are intercepted by the Alps and the Austrians ; 
but the cause of liberty, justice, and civilization will 
always triumph. As for England, Lord Derby will not 

*Placentia is a town of the Duchy of Parma, which latter was nominally 
an Independent Sovereignty of Central Italy ere the present war broke 
out. Austria has had armed occupation, for years, of part of her terri- 
tories, contrary to treaty stipulations. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 207 

tarnish his glory in making himself the acomplice of those 
who condemn the Italians to perpetual servitude. . 

''Our policy is not defiant; we will not excite to war; 
neither will we lower our voice when Austria arms her- 
self and threatens us." 

The great Sardinian statesman has so far been mistaken 
in his prediction as to the course which England would 
take in this war. If he calculated upon a return for the 
services rendered by Sardinia in the Crimean campaign, he 
is counting indeed without his host. England guaranteed 
Sardinia a loan of $10,000,000, with which to carry on 
the campaign before Sebastopol; and certainly that is a 
sufficient requital for the services of that State to the 
allies. 

But England has gone farther. She interposed her 
friendly offices between the belligerents to get them to 
consent to forego the contest. Lord Cowley, the British 
Minister, resident at Paris, went to Vienna, to see what 
conditions Austria would accept. The selection of Lord 
Cowley was perhaps the best which England could have 
made. He understands thoroughly the politics of Ger- 
many. He has served successively at Vienna, at the 
Hague, at Stuttgart, and as Minister Extraordinary near 
the Germanic Diet. He had also been for many years at 
Constantinople, and had been accredited to Switzerland. 
He had made the politics of central Europe, for a long 
period, his especial study. For the last seven years he 
has resided at the Court of Napoleon. Clarendon was 
assisted by him at the Peace Congress of 1856. 

Lord Cowley is a nephew of the Duke of Wellington, 



208 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

and a son of Lord Welleslj. He was born in 1804, and 
is therefore fifty-five years of age. To moderate intellec- 
tual powers, he has added a vast deal of experience, 
arising from varied study and intercourse with men. 

His mission was undertaken with the entire consent and 
approbation of the French Government. The first object 
to be attained was the ascertainment of what points 
involved in the discussion the two Governments could agree 
upon, and wherein they differed. This was necessary to a 
clear understanding of the complications which had arisen. 

Count Buol, it is said, was willing to withdraw the Im- 
perial troops from Rome as soon as the French army was 
withdrawn; he would join with the other great European 
powers, in addressing such advice and remonstrance, as 
would be likely to procure an amelioration of the hard- 
ships and sufi"erings inflicted by the Supreme Pontiff upon 
his temporal subjects; he disavowed any intention upon 
the part of the Emperor to march his army into Piedmont, 
and avowed that Austria was willing to join France and 
England in every proper effort to remove those difficulties, 
which threatened the peace of Italy and Europe. Such 
declarations seem to pave the way for putting a termina- 
tion to the difficulties by negotiation. 

During the absence of Lord Cowley the Russian Am- 
bassador at Paris had proposed to the French Government 
to call a general Congress of the Great Powers, and that 
France should take the initiative in proposing it to the 
other Powers. France consented to the necessity for a 
call, but urged that propriety required her to decline mak- 
ing the proposition, declaring that Russia could do so 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 209 

without having her motives impugned or her intentions 
suspected. The proposition was at once promptly acceded 
to by England and Prussia, and at a later period Austria 
gave a reluctant adhesion. 

The details and composition of the Congress were not 
formally agreed upon. Lord Malmesbury expressed in 
his place in the House of Lords his confidence that the 
prevailing peace would not be broken ; that though there 
might not be a formal disarmament of the hostile forces, 
they would refrain from attack during the sessions of the 
Congress; that when the Congress met the question of 
Italian reform should be discussed, and that the different 
States of the Peninsula would be heard, although they 
would not perhaps be allowed to vote upon the various 
questions relative to their interests. 

The belief that a Congress would be held was so great, 
that some went so far as to indicate Baden as the place 
for the meeting. It is probable however, that the place 
of meeting was never formally discussed between the 
great Powers. 

Meanwhile, France was accused of increasing her forces 
and of arming them with great rapidity. • The Moniteur, 
the official organ of the Emperor declared that : 

"The regular effective force of the peace footing which 
had been adopted two years ago, had not been exceeded." 

It also made similar explanations concerning the extra- 
ordinary activity manifested in the foundries, arsenals and 
dock-yards. These declarations did but little to quiet 
the European mind, for with them came linked from 
the same official source the declaration that the Emperor : 





210 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

"had promised tlie King of Sardinia to defend him 
against any aggressive act on the part of Austria. He 
has promised this and nothing more : and it is well known 
he keeps his word." 

Austria had not been idle ; she had by the middle of 
April 230,000 men in Italy. Nor had Sardinia relaxed 
her preparations. She had placed a regular army upon a 
war footing, and called out her National Guard. Austria 
pretended to take mortal offence at this arming of the 
Sardinian reserves. She formally made a demand of the 
latter Power to disarm them and gave her but three days 
to comply with the proposition. Victor Emanuel promptly 
and decidedly refused. Austria within four days after 
this began to pour her legions from Lombardy into Pied- 
mont. 

This sudden irruption of the Austrian forces took all 
Europe by surprise. It was declared upon all hands, that 
the Austrians designed to overwhelm the small Sardinian 
Army in detail, ere the French could arrive, take Turin, 
overrun the country, and occupy all its strongholds. 

Louis Napoleon saw at once the peril of his ally. He 
was fully equal to the crisis. Troops were set in motion 
for Italy in every direction ; the veterans of Africa were 
called from the fields where they had won so much glory, 
the Imperial Guard left Paris ; the troops of the line were 
transported by every available means toward Savoy until 
the overwhelming numbers of the Austrians ceased to be 
terrible. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE FRENCH AND AUSTRIAN ARMIES — THEIR NAVIES — FRENCH PRIZES — 

THE ZOUAVES HISTORY OP THEIR ORIGIN MARSHAL CLAUZEL THE 

DUKE OF ORLEANS THE APPEARANCE OP THE ZOUAVE ZOUAVES IN 

ITALY ANECDOTES THE THIRD REGIMENT THE TURCOS GENERAL 

YUSSUP TURCOS ENCAMPMENT NOTICE OF GENERAL BOURBAKI 

THE CROATS THEIR CHARACTER TYROLESE SHARPSHOOTERS THEIR 

ACTIONS IN ITALY HOW THE FRENCH SOLDIER IS FED CHANGES IN 

THE FRENCH MILITARY COSTUMES. 

Everything relative to the military force of Austria and 
France is of importance, for each separate element goes 
to make a sum total of power which will go far toward de- 
termining the result of the war. In order to insure accu- 
racy of information, all the facts which can be collated 
should be given. 

The army of France, on what is called the peace-foot- 
ing, is estimated at 409,000 men of all ranks and grades 
of service. When upon a war-footing it is raised to 
750,000. The troops upon the peace-footing comprise 
247,641 Infantry, 65,407 Cavalry, and 34,262 Artillery. 
The other subdivisions of the army are not important 
enough to deserve mention. 

The army of Austria, in time of peace, consists of 

a force of 348,158, embracing one hundred and sixty-nine 

regiments and five hundred and thirty general officers of 
211 



212 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

various ranks. In time of war it is raised to 676,104 men, 
but a much gi-eater force may be raised. France and 
Austria, upon a desperate emergency, can bring a million 
or more combatants into the field. 

There is a much greater disparity, however, in their 
naval forces. Austria is by no means a first class maritime 
Power. She has but three sea-ports of any importance, 
Fiume, Trieste and Venice, and these are all on the Adri- 
atic. She has in all but one hundred and thirtv-five ves- 
sels of war. Of these, twenty-seven are steamers, most 
of which are small. They carry altogether about eight 
hundred and fiftv o-uns, whilst France has two hundred 
and nine sailing-vessels, and two hundred and fifty-two 
steamers, carrying a total of 12,520 guns, with 36,629 
sailors and 19,987 marines. 

It appears then that whilst there is almost an equality 
of numbers in their land forces, there is the utmost dis- 
parity in their marine. The Austrian fleet will be forced 
to remain under cover of the guns of its maritime fort- 
resses during the entire war. It dare not venture out to 
sea. Already it is reported that the French Squadrons in 
the Adi'iatic and Levant are sweeping the Austrian mer- 
chant navy from those seas. A few cruisers have cap- 
tured no less than thirty merchantmen within four weeks, 
whose value is estimated at 4,000,000 of francs, or about 
§800,000 in our currency. 

Numbers do not alone constitute the power of an army 
in the field. The skill and strategic sagacity of the Com- 
manders, the strictness of the discipline, the efficiency of 
the drill, and the esprit de corps of the soldiers impart true 
energy and vigor to its movements and operations. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 213 

Hence it is that some particular corps, or body of men 
in an army always enjoys a higher reputation for courage, 
firmness, and other military qualities than any of their 
fellow-soldiers. Thus some of the Swiss, Spanish and 
more recently the British Infantry, have enjoyed Euro- 
pean reputations, whilst none of their fellows acquired 
•more than the position of an ordinary military corps. 

At present the Zouaves elicit more public attention than 
any other corps in the French Army. The Imperial 
Guard is now lost sight of. A history of the origin of 
this corps is curious and instructive. 

When the French took Algiers, they found a corps of 
six thousand Turks, who had been employed as a sort of 
personal guard by the reigning Powers. The people stood 
much in awe of this foreign guard, who expressed their 
willingness to enter the service of the conquerors, not- 
withstanding which, the French officers in command, 
doubting their fidelity, disbanded the troop. General 
Clauzel, however, soon found that this had been an error, 
and he strove to repair it as quickly as possible. Ignorant 
as the French were of the language of their country, of 
its customs, of its warfare, and unused to its climate, it 
was necessary that there should be a native regiment in 
whom the French could confide. Amongst the Arab 
tribes was one called the Kabyles, a sort of oriental con- 
dottieri, who, like the Swiss, served any country for pay. 
They were ferocious soldiers, well drilled and well disci- 
plined. Clauzel sending for the Chief of these barbaric 
warriors, from his retreat in the ravines of Juj-jura, 
enlisted his services and those of his men, and formed 



214 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

them into two battalions. In the native language the 
Kabyle troop was called Zouaoua, whence the transforma- 
tion to Zouave was easy and far more suited to European 
lips. 

In this corps Clauzel prudently incorporated as many 
French volunteers as offered. The revolution which 
followed so close on the taking of Algiers had given the 
French ouvrier a taste for fighting, so that the French 
element in the new corps consisted almost entirely of the 
gay and reckless enfants de Paris. 

From the moment the Parisian element prevailed in this 
division, it was no wonder that it became renowned for 
its gaiety, its bravery and its daring exploits. There are 
many anecdotes told of their adventures, as well as of 
their wit. So well had they imitated the Arabian costume 
and manner, that it was impossible to distinguish them 
from the natives. 

One evening during the campaign of Mascara, in 1836, 
after a hot skirmish with the troops of Ab-del-Kader, in 
which the Zouaves had distinguished themselves, the Duke 
of Orleans standing conversing with his Staff, was startled 
by the appearance of a Zouave, bearing in his hand the 
bleeding head of an Arab, newly severed from the trunk, 
which the soldier laid at his feet. Turning to an officer, 
long resident in Algiers, the Duke asked for an expla- 
nation. 

'^ It means," replied the officer, '^ that every native 
soldier, who brings such a trophy as this, is entitled to a 
special reward." 

" Very well," replied the Duke, "give him this gold 
piece, and ask him to what tribe he belongs." 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 215 

The soldier tossing up his louis d'or with a Parisian 
twist and a military salute, exclaimed : 

" I belong, Your Highness, to a tribe devoted to your 
service. My name is Bertrand, and I am an Arab, from 
the Place de la Bastile." 

In 1839, the natives in these regiments, following the 
appeal of Ab-del-Kader, whom they looked on as a 
prophet as well as a leader, deserted in a body, carrying 
with them, to the advantage of the enemy, all the military 
science they had acquired in the French service. 

The native deserters were replaced by French volun- 
teers, and the Zouaves retained nothing Arabic but their 
costume. 

They are the bravest and most daring of all the French 
army ; their exploits in Algiers are almost fabulous, and 
their conduct in the Crimea merited them the admiration 
of all Europe. 

There is a reckless gaiety amongst them, an utter uncon- 
sciousness of danger, and a thorough love of fighting, that 
invests them with peculiar interest. There can be no 
doubt that the Zouaves will be amongst the most distin- 
guished soldiers in Italy. 

The Zouave is in Italv as he was in the Crimea, an ob- 
ject of great interest. He wears a sort of fez cap, with 
a roll of cloth at the base to protect the head ; a 
jacket of blue cloth, with red facings decorated with some 
simple ornaments, and open in front so as to display his 
throat ; and a waistcoat or undercoat of red comes down 
to his hips. Round his waist, a broad silk sash is folded 
several times, to support the back. His pantaloons of 



216 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

scarlet clotii, fit close over the hips, and then expand in 
Dutchman-like dimensions till they are gathered just 
below the knee in loose, bagging folds ; so that they look 
somewhat like a kit. From the ankle to the knee, the leg 
is protected by a kind of greaves, made of stout yellow 
embroidered leather, down to the back, and descending 
over the shoe. The whole costume is graceful, easy and 
picturesque. The men are generally smart young fellows, 
about five feet six inches in height ; their faces burnt to a 
deep copper tint, by the rays of an African sun, and 
wearing the most luxuriant beards, mustaches and whis- 
kers. 

This body of men have proven their courage and high 
state of discipline, more than once since the beginning of 
the Italian campaign. One regiment of them attacked 
an Austrian battery at Palestro, which was covered by a 
deep canal in front, and placed upon an eminence of 
considerable height, and took it at a single dash. That 
regiment had over four hundred men killed and wounded, 
but they shattered the Austrian column into fragments, 
and drove four hundred of them into a deep canal, where 
they were drowned. 

A letter in the Journal des Dehats, referring to the 
Zouaves, says : — '' One fact will give an idea of the incom- 
parable African troops, with whom the Austrians are not 
yet acquainted. For six months the 3d Regiment of Zou- 
aves has been on campaign ; since the 15th of October 
the men have not slept fifteen nights in barracks ; three 
or four weeks ago they were at Tuggart ; they were em- 
barked at almost a moment's notice, and since their arrival 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 217 

at Piedmont have been encamped in the midst of rain ; and 
yet the regiment has not ten men sick." 

They professionally despise warfare at long shot. In a 
skirmish with an advanced Austrian column, they threw 
away cartouches and sprung forward at the enemy with 
the bayonet. After the affair was over their officers re- 
proved them for throwing them away. The soldiers 
replied with nonchalance, that there was no occasion to 
display any anger, for they would go over the late battle 
field, and get six Austrian cartouches for every one they 
had lost. 

When they landed at Genoa they found oranges abun- 
dant, and as they thought cheap, at a cent a piece. They 
bought large quantities of them and piled them as cannon 
balls are piled, in pyramids. In a few days thoy had 
formed the acquaintance of the nursery maids, who were 
in the habit of frequenting the public gardens in great 
numbers, and accompanied them just as familiarly as they 
would have done at the Luxemburg or Tuilleries. It was 
nothing unusual to see a scion of Genoese nobility 
strutting about in childish pride, wearing the cap of a 
Zouave. By this intercourse they became acquainted 
with the real price of oranges, and found that they were 
retailed five for a cent. As soon as this discovery became 
generally known, they made a descent upon the orange 
stands and compelled the owners to vend them at the rate 
of six for a cent. 

Ere other detachments of their fellow soldiers arrived, 
they had transferred their oranges to the quay, and when 
they began to land they were pelted in most approved 



218 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

style. So sharp a shower of oranges descended upon them 
they did not know but they had met an Austrian Corps 
d'Arm^e. 

The following is a translation of a letter written by a 
Zouave, at Genoa, to his sister : 

"My Dear Sister: — This is to inform you that I have 
arrived in good health at Genoa, having suffered nothing 
but a little sea-sickness ; for which reason, the next time 
I undertake a sea-voyage I shall go by land. We have 
much better quarters here than at Sebastopol, seeing that 
the houses are all built of marble — like the gray marble 
mantels in Paris, except that here it is white. 

Now for our reception, that was a stunner, feasting all 
round. As for the fair sex, I am not afraid to say their 
reception was most flattering. As soon as the Austrians 
are beaten, if you dont see me come back, you may con- 
clude that I am married here, and turned wine merchant ; 
seeing that the liquids are devilish good, and plenty of 
them. Besides, I shall be glad to contribute free children 
to emancipated Italy. 

Geouchard, (surnamed) 

The Invincible Bayonet.'^ 

Whilst they were in Genoa, they frequented one wine 
shop more than all the others. It was kept by a retired 
Zouave, who thoroughly knew their peculiarities. He had 
placed in fi'ont of his door the figure of a Zouave, sitting 
quietly smoking. Two immense Austrian grenadiers are 
rushing at him with levelled bayonets; one of them is 
exclaiming, " AVhy the devil don't the little Frenchman 
move ? " 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 219 

The Frenchman replies, "What's the use? there are 
not six of you." 

There is another corps of the French Army that is 
very peculiar. They are commonly called Turcos, and 
the corps is composed of native Africans. Those now in 
Italy are commanded by a Bedouin Arab, who has risen 
to the rank of General. His name is Yussup. They are 
reported to be a set of fiends, worse than the Austrian 
Croats. When at Algiers, before they embarked for 
Italy, they broke loose from all constraint, overran the 
Jewish part of the town, although the race of Abraham 
had barricaded the approaches to their houses for fear of 
them, and committed all sorts of pillaging and plundering. 
They were only stopped from the greatest excesses by the 
presence of a regular force. 

They are riflemen, and serve as tirailleurs. Indeed, 
they are often called the Algerian sharp-shooters. Their 
attire is similar to that of the Zouaves, and like them, 
they are distinguished for their bold, dashing qualities. 
The celebrated Tyrolese sharp-shooters, of the Austrian 
service, do not excel them in accuracy of practice, nor are 
their guns of longer range. 

The following description of a Turcos' encampment near 
Genoa, will serve to throw some light upon their habits, 
as well as the interest they excited whilst there. 

" The camp is pitched in one of the pretty spots, which 
appear like an earthly paradise, in the valley of Polcevera. 
This valley, which is reached after passing through the 
suburb of San Pier d' Arena, which contains some palaces 
not less splendid than those in Genoa, is hemmed in by 



220 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

four small hills covered with orange, lemon, pomegranate 
trees, and cactuses. The Turcos are a very fine specimen 
of the Arab race ; some of the native officers, in particu- 
lar, are, in spite of their dark skins, remarkable for their 
regular features. The white turban is admirably suited 
to their energetic heads, and they wear with ease and 
grace the large jacket and the wide trousers, closely fas- 
tened above the hips. There is in all their rapid move- 
ments an elasticity which more resembles that of the 
feline than the human race. In the games in which they 
indulge, in order to prevent the ennui of inactivity, they 
bound about like so many tigers. Almost all of them 
speak French with a drawling and guttural accent, which 
is not, however, at all disagreeable. The other night, one 
battalion of the Turcos struck their tents and left for 
Pontedecimo ; the others left about the 3rd instant. After 
the Aquasola, which is the favorite promenade of Genoa, 
the road which leads to the camp of the Turcos has been, 
during the encampment, the most frequented walk of the 
Genoese." 

Among the bold, energetic leaders of Division, which 
the Zouave campaigns in Algiers and the Crimea have 
brought into notice, is General Bourbaki. He is the son 
of a Polish exile, and was born in 1816. He is therefore 
but forty-three, and is the youngest General of Division 
in the French service. He is, at present, serving imme- 
diately under Canrobert, his old leader in Africa. In 
early life, he had the good fortune to attract the attention 
of General Rumigny, Aid-de-camp to Louis Philippe, who 
took charge of his education. The rest, he has done for 
himself. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 221 

In many an advance and retreat, before many a battery, 
and in many a mountain pass, has he displayed his won- 
derful coolness, courage and skill. The Courier de Paris 
relates, that at the siege of Zaatcha, a city of Algiers, 
''he headed a storming party, with entire success, wearing 
white kid gloves and patent leather boots. He brandished 
a small cane in his hand, and marched up to the cannons 
with a segar between his teeth! " 

The English Generals spoke in the highest terms of his 
services at Inkerman. During almost the whole of the 
siege of Sebastopol, he was present wherever the post of 
danger was, and with him it was always the post of honor. 
He is universally regarded in Paris, and in the army, as 
the most promising of the younger class of French Gene- 
rals. To him was entrusted the proud distinction of 
leading the first division of the French troops into Sar- 
dinia. 

There is a corps in the Austrian army which deserves 
especial notice. They are known, distinctively, as the 
Croats, of whom about twenty thousand are now serving 
in Italy. They come from Crotia, a Province of the Aus- 
trian Empire. Their Ban Jellachich, who died some weeks 
since, distinguished himself in 1848, by heading the reac- 
tionary party in Austria, and assisting Francis Joseph to 
reduce his revolted Provinces to subjection. 

The Croats have long served as light troops in the 
Austrian army. Their name has become a by-word and 
terror, wherever the double-headed eagle of Austria has 
been borne. The Italians hate them with a ferocious in- 
tensity, as also do the Hungarians. One who saw a corps 



222 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of them in 1850 thus describes, in a somewhat exaggerated 
style of praise, their costume and appearance : 

'' There is a something half Albanian in some portions 
of the costume ; in the leggings and full trousers, fastened 
at the knee ; and in the heavily gold-embroidered, crimson 
jacket. But that which gives their decided character, 
their extraordinary originality, to these sons of war, is 
the cloak. Over these giant frames hangs a mantle of 
scarlet cloth, fastened tightly at the throat; below this, 
on the breast, depends the clasp of the jacket, a large 
silver egg, made so as to open and serve as a cup. In the 
loose girdle are to be seen the richly mounted pistols and 
glittering kandjar — Turkish arms mostly — for every 
Croat is held, by old tradition, to win his first weapon 
from the Turk. The mantle has a cape cut somewhat in 
the shape of a bat's wings; but which, joined together 
by hooks and eyes, forms a sharp-pointed hood, somewhat 
resembling those of the Venetian Marinari, but higher 
and more peaked. Over the crimson cap, confined by a 
gold band upon the brow, falling with a gold tassel on the 
shoulder, rises this red hood, overshadowing their faces." 

Another class of Austrian troops much more distin- 
guished for their humanity than the Croats, as well as for 
their distinction in arms, are the Tyrolese sharp-shooters. 
They have ever been remarkable for their fealty to the 
House of Hapsburg. The French in Napoleon's palmiest 
days, led by his best Marshals, were never able to subdue 
these loyal mountaineers, under their gallant leader, 
Hofer. 

The following description of the action of the Tyrolese 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 223 



/ 



sliarp-shooters in Italy at the present time, taken from a 
high French authority, is worthy of a place here : 

"It is said that they harass the French videttes and 
outposts incessantly. Day and night, it is said, their 
shots are whistling through the air. The ground on the 
other side of the Po affords them a good cover, and they 
are ever on the watch. The other day General Henault 
(a French General of Division), went out to reconnoitre, 
attended by his Aid-de-camp, and followed by a trumpeter 
a few paces behind. The General thought himself beyond 
range, but while he was looking about him a sharp ' thug ' 
was heard, and the poor trumpeter fell forward mortally 
wounded by a Tyrolese bullet in the loins. The General 
having discovered his error withdrew, and gave up his re- 
connoissance for that day. On another occasion a soldier 
of the 90th French regiment went down to the bank of the 
Po to wash out a few things. Whilst engaged in this 
peaceful occupation a bullet struck him in the chest, and 
he fell into the river, whose tide bore his body to the 
Austrian side of the Po — a bloody tribute to the murder- 
ous accuracy of their fire. 'At every instant,' says the 
letter, ' wounded men are being brought in by the ambu- 
lances.' " 

According to an authority which has not been contra- 
dicted, the Austrian army in Italy was distributed as fol- 
lows at the time the war began : — "At Ancona, 7,000 
men; Ferrara, 4,000; Venice from 12 to 15,000; Leg- 
nanno, 1,000; Mantua, 4,000; Verona, 6,000; Piacenza, 
5,000 ; Brescia, Milan, Bergamo, Cremona and other parts 
of the same military district, from ^0,000 to 25,000 ; be- 



224 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

sides a movable column of 20,000 was concentrated at Pi- 
acenza. There should be an allowance of 20,000 on the 
sick list. Four or five thousand are stationed at Pavia. — 
This would leave the very highest estimate about 130,000 
men to invade Piedmont." 

It is wonderful upon what a small allowance a French 
soldier will live, be active and healthy. It was often said 
whilst they were in the Crimea, that the English soldiers 
were astonished at the facility with which the French 
soldier adapted himself to the circumstances surrounding 
him. The French soldier is in reality his own purveyor 
as well as cook. The allowance for his subsistence in Italy 
is six sous for two meals per day. The barrack-cooking 
is artistic and delicious. 

Their allowance consists of two basins of soup with 
"the strings" in, which they call meat, and a few bits of 
onions or other vegetables to give it flavor. When on 
service they have a little wine ; otherwise, except upon 
grand occasions, such as reviews, they have neither wine, 
spirits, beer nor coffee. 

It is a great advantage, intellectually and physically, 
that each French trooper is almost independent of ex- 
ternal resources. Whether he be a delicate Parisian, or 
whether a peasant just entering the army from the 
plough, he bends most easily to circumstances ; he under- 
stands how to fair e la cuisine with the most simple ingre- 
dients, when the more luxurious are wanting; however 
disagreeable the physical condition in which he finds him- 
self, he still continues to keep up his gaiety. This in a 
difficult campaign is most important and relieves the officers 
of a large amount of responsibility and anxiety. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 225 

The French officers have heretofore worn the epaulette. 
This made them so conspicuous a mark that numbers of 
them in the first actions of the present campaign fell 
victims to the unerring aim of the Tjrolese riflemen. The 
Emperor Napoleon, following the example of the Austrians, 
has prudently ordered the use of it to be discontinued for 
the present. The officers now will not be distinguished at 
a long distance from the men. 

The French troops have been divested of all superfluous 
clothing in order that they may move with ease. The tall 
shako of the grenadiers is to be replaced by the light kepi 
and the close fitting coat is to be replaced by a loose sack 
or demi-titnic. 

An English letter-writer gives the following amusing 
account of how the Austrian soldiers in many instances 
obtain supplies : 

"A soldier in white enters the shop of an unfortunate 
Piedmontese, selects certain articles, astonishes said Pied- 
montese by putting his hand into his pocket and drawing 
out an Austrian note. Piedmontese knows no more of its 
value than he does of the signification of the Chinese 
characters on a stick of Indian ink ; but the soldier insists 
upon paying for what he has bought, informs the shop- 
keeper that the note is worth such or such a sum, demands 
and obtains the change in cash, and bids adieu to the rue- 
ful shop-keeper with a polite bow." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MORE AUSTRIAN AND FRENCH GENERALS — THE STAFF OF NAPOLEON — 
GENERAL ROGUET DUKE DE MONTEBELLO HIS WIFE AND THE EM- 
PRESS HIS BROTHER EDGAR NET HIS ELDER BROTHER GENERAL 

FLEURT GENERAL RIELLE BARON TASCHER MARQUIS DE CADORE 

M. DE BOURGOING CONNEAU LARREY THE ARMY OF THE EAST 

COURSE OF BAVARIA GENERAL SCHRAMM GENERAL ROSTOLAN 

GENERAL ST. JEAN d' ANGELY DISTINGUISHED VOLUNTEERS THE 

PRINCE DE ROHAN DUKE DE CHARTRES — FEELING OF THE FRENCH 

PEOPLE RELATIVE TO THE WAR FATHER LACORDAIRE HIS DIS- 
COURSES TO THE PEOPLE COUNTS CLAM-GALLAS AND SCHAAFF- 

GOTTSCHE — MARSHALS CASTELLANE AND MAGNAN. 

The Emperor's Staff not only is composed of distinguislied 
officers, but of men whose names are full of historical as- 
sociations in the very land to which he is going. 

General Roguet, now in his fifty-ninth year, is the son 
of an old servant of Napoleon I., by whom he was 
created Count. The present General was in 1815 page 
to the Emperor, but it was not until after the Revolution 
of 1830, that he was enabled to obtain advancement. Louis 
Philipe in order to bring forward a set of new men which 
the Restoration had sedulously kept in the back ground, 
took into especial favor the adherents of the Bonaparte 
family. Count Roguet was made a Peer of France, and his 
son, now Aid-de-camp, rose rapidly in the army to the rank 
of Colonel. After the Revolution of 1848, he was chosen 

226 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 227 

hj the President of the Republic for one of his Aid-de- 
camps. After the coup d' etdt, Roguet was raised to the 
rank of General of Division, and became a member of the 
Senate. 

Count Montebello is the second son of Lannes, first 
Duke de Montebello, who was killed at Essling. He was 
born in Paris, in 1807. In 1830 he entered a Cavalry- 
regiment, and took part in the expedition to Algiers, and 
afterwards became Captain in the Spahis. He was Aid- 
de-camp to Napoleon during the whole of the Presidency, 
and in 1855 was made General of Division. 

His father Lannes, took his title from a victory at 
Montebello. 

Count Montebello married Mademoiselle de Villeneuve 
Bargemont, who is now lady-in-waiting to the Empress. 
After the first action in Italy, it is said that the Empress 
visited the flower-show in the Exhibition Palace. One of 
the exhibitors having a new species of rose, remarkably 
fine, presented it to her Majesty, with a request that she 
would deign to give it a name. "Well," said the Empress, 
"call it Montebello!" The designation was considered a 
most happy one, both on account of the recent combat at 
that place, and because the flower was handed to her 
Majesty by the Duchess of Montebello. 

There is a younger son of Lannes, who has acquired 
celebrity in another direction by marrying the heiress of 
a celebrated vineyard, renowned for its champagne. This 
has brought his name before the public on the labels of 
the most popular brand of champagne used in France. If 
he has not achieved glory he has acquired an immense 
fortune. 



228 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

The Prince de la Moskowa, Napoleon Edgar Ney, born 
in Paris in 1812, is the fourth son of the renowned Marshal 
Ney. Brought ^'Up in the Military School of St. Cyr, he 
entered a cavalry regiment. His promotion was very slow 
until 1848, when Louis Napoleon attached him to his per- 
son as Aid-de-camp. He was sent on a difficult mission 
to Rome, to treat relative to the conditions for the restor- 
ation of the Pope. 

Since 1852, Edgar Ney has been Aid-de-camp to the 
Emperor, a Colonel of the 6th Hussars. By Imperial 
decree he was, in 1857, authorized to take the style and 
title of his elder brother, the Prince de la Moskowa, who 
died in July of the same year. This elder brother, who 
had not inherited his father's military tastes or talents, 
married a daughter of the great banker Lafitte, from whom 
he was speedily separated. After the revolution of July, 
Louis Philippe created him a Peer of France, but he nobly 
refused to take his seat amid those who had condemned 
his father to death ; steadily persevering in his demand 
for the reversal of the decree of condemnation under which 
his father had been executed. He obtained it in 1841. 
Monsieur de la Moskowa was the founder of the renowned 
'^ Jockey Club" in Paris ; and was, besides, one of the most 
distinguished scientific musicians of the age. He rallied 
in 1848 to the cause of Napoleon, and contributed greatly 
to his election as President. After the couj) d'etat, he was 
called to the Senate, and made General of Brigade. His 
only daughter is married to Count Persigny, the celebrated 
French statesman. 

General Floury is a distinguished officer of the Spahis, 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 229 

born in Paris in 1815. He was in eleven of tlie most 
desperate campaigns in Algiers, and was five times severely 
wounded. In 1848 he became a warm partizan of the 
Bonapartists. He contributed his influence to the election 
of the President, to whose person he has ever since been 
attached, with the rank of General of Brigade. 

General Rielle is the son of Marshal Rielle. His father 
was Aid-de-camp to Massena during the war in Italy, 
and was renowned for having made a cavalry charge, 
at Tarvis, on the solid ice. He was sent to Massena by 
General Bonaparte, with secret orders, during the block- 
ade of Genoa by the English. Massena was closely shut 
up within its walls, but Rielle contrived to elude the vigil- 
ance of the besiegers, and enter the city. He was a 
General of Brigade before attaining his twenty-eighth 
year. He was the last Marshal created by Louis Philippe, 
and married a daughter of Massena, Prince of Essling. 

Robert Bacon Tascher'is the third son of Count Tascher 
de la Pagerie, the representative of the last surviving 
branch of the family of Tascher de la Pagerie, to whom 
the Empress Josephine belonged. The father of the officer, 
now on Napoleon's Staff", is a distant connection of the 
Emperor, through his mother Hortense. He was the 
intimate friend of Eugene Beauharnais, whom he followed 
to Bavaria after Waterloo. He is now Master of the 
Ceremonies in the Emperor's Household. 

The Marquis de Cadore, Lieutenant in the Navy, is 
the grandson of a former Minister of Napoleon I., whom 
lie created Due de Cadore, in 1809. 

M. de Bourgoing is a young officer of much promise, a 



230 ITALY A^HD THE WAR OF 1859. 

son of tlie Baron de Bonrgoing, Frencli Ambassador to 
Spain in 1851. 

The two medical officers attached to his Staff are Con- 
neau and Larrey. Conneau is the devoted friend to his 
companion in prison, to whom Xapoleon indirectly owes 
the Empire, since it was by his means that he effected his 
escape from Ham. Larrey is the son of the celebrated 
army surgeon, the friend of Napoleon I., whose name is 
familar to all who have read the campaigns of the Empire. 

Whilst Napoleon is actively engaged in Italy, there 
seems to be a probability that the German Confederation 
may make an attack upon France, upon the side of the 
Rhine. Indeed, Bavaria very recently permitted an Aus- 
trian corps d'arm^e, of 40,000 men, to cross her territory, 
upon its march from Bohemia to Italy. They were re- 
ceived with open demonstrations of joy and congratulation 
by the people of Munich. By this permission their march 
was shortened hundreds of miles. The usual route for the 
march of Austrian corj^s d'armee from Germany to Italy 
is now closed, because Venice is blockaded, and all com- 
munication with it by sea is stopped. This act is a clear 
violation of neutrality upon the part of Bavaria, and will 
doubtless not be forgotten by Napoleon. 

Even before this occurred, the debate in the Germanic 
Diet, relative to placing its army upon a war footing, satis- 
fied Napoleon of the necessity of preparing to meet any 
demonstrations from that quarter. Accordingly he issued 
orders for the complete organization of the army under 
Pelissier, sometimes called the " Army of Observation," 
and at others the " Army of the East." The composition 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 231 

of the Staff was at once resolved upon. The Duke of 
Malakoff instantly began his tour of inspection. His head- 
quarters are now at Nancy; under him will serve as Chiefs 
of Division, Generals Schramm and Rostola, both of whom 
have proved their skill and valor upon more than one 
battle field. 

General Count Schramm was born at Arras, in 1789. 
He was at the siege of Dantzic in 1807, where his brilliant 
valor gained him at once the rank of Captain of the Im- 
perial Guard. He was at the battles of Wagram and 
Essling, and everywhere distinguished himself. At Lutzen, 
Schramm, then Colonel, made a celebrated bayonet charge 
on the Prussians which decided the battle in favor of the 
French, for which exploit the Emperor conferred on him 
the title of Baron. Although dangerously wounded at 
Lutzen, Schramm joined the army before Dresden, and 
placed himself in the vanguard. His regiment assisted, 
under the walls of the . latter city, in capturing many 
pieces of artillery. Marching his regiment to Pirna, he 
succeeded in cutting off the retreat of the Austrians. 

At Pirna, Napoleon, who found in him a man after his 
own heart, made him General of Brigade. All those bril- 
liant acts of valor were performed by General Schramm 
before he had attained his twenty-fourth year. In 1813, 
he was taken prisoner by the Russians, and sent to Italy. 
Schramm having testified his devotion to the Emperor to 
the last, and been actively engaged in the defence of Paris 
dui'ing the hundred days, retired from active duty, re- 
fusing to serve under the elder Bourbons. In 1831, he 
accepted a command under Louis Philippe, and was at the 



232 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

siege of Antwerp. In 1839, we find him taking the road 
then taken by all the fighting men of France, and going 
to Algiers, where he formed part of the expedition to 
Milianah. On the recall of Marshal Valine, he, for a 
short time, occupied the post of Commander-in-Chief of 
the Armee d'Afrique. Louis Philippe, on his return from 
Africa, conferred on him the title of Count. 

General Schramm has also distinguished himself in 
political life, first as a member of the Chamber of Depu- 
ties, and afterwards in the Chamber of Peers, to which he 
was called in 1839. The General's politics were conser- 
vative. In 1850, the President of the Republic selected 
him as Minister of War, but Schramm, declining to affix 
his signature to the order by which General Changarnier 
was deprived of his command, he was obliged to send in his 
resignation. After the coup d'etat, he was raised to the 
dignity of Senator. 

General Schramm is a '^vieux de laveille^'' being the old- 
est General of Division in active service. 

General Rostolan was born at Aix in 1791. He has served 
in Spain and in Algiers, and was at the time of the Revolu- 
tion of 1848, at the head of the Polytechnic School. Hav- 
ing joined the party of Louis Napoleon, in 1852 he was em- 
ployed in the expedition to Rome ; and took his place in 
the Senate shortly after his return. 

General Count Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely, is the 
son of the celebrated statesman of the same name, well 
known during the days of the first Republic and the Em- 
pire. He was born in Paris in 1794, and was educated at 
St. Cyr. He served with distinction in the Russian cam- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 233 

paign, and though he had sworn fidelity to the Bourbons, 
during the hundred days he joined Napoleon at Water- 
loo, and was placed by him on his Staff. 

On the return of the Bourbons he was cashiered. — 
M. de St. Jean d'Angely went to Greece, and in 1825, 
when the sympathies of all Christendom were excited for 
the Greeks, he served in the Morea with Colonel Fab- 
vier in a corps of Volunteer Cavalry. He also joined 
General Maison's expedition in 1828. After the revolu- 
tion of July, M. de St. Jean d'Angely was restored to his 
military rank by Louis Philippe. 

In 1848, of course, with the name he bore, he rallied to 
the support of Napoleon. He was for a few days Minis- 
ter of War. Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely commands 
the Imperial Guard, now in Italy. 

Amongst the volunteers, the number of which in Paris 
amounts already to over twenty-five thousand, there are 
many distinguished names. ' Among these are Prince Pol- 
ignac, M. de Choiseul-Praslin, the grandson of Marshal 
Sebastiani, and the son of the ill-fated Duchess de Praslin, 
so barbarously murdered by her husband, Nicholas Clary, 
nephew of the Queen of Sweden, and of the wife of 
Joseph Bonaparte, and consequently a relation of the Em- 
peror. This gentleman possesses a revenue of three hun- 
dred thousand francs per annum, and has enrolled himself 
as a volunteer in a Piedmontese regiment of Cavalry. M. 
de Clermont Tonnere, a member of a family who for centu- 
ries have been devoted to the Bourbons, has also offered 
his services. All these are members of the Jockey 
club, a club composed of the flower of the ^'jeunesse doree/' 



234 ITALY A^D THE WAR OF 1859. 

renoTvned for their fine equipages, for their refinement, for 
their exclusiveness. No less than forty members of this 
club have left the luxuries of the capital, and accepted 
with enthusiasm the hardships and dangers of a camp. 

In the same regiment in which M. Clary is enrolled, is 
the Duke de Chartres, the second son of the Duke d' Orleans, 
and brother of the Count de Paris, the heir apparent to 
the claims of the younger branch of the Bourbons to the 
French crown. The Duke de Chartres is at Casale in the 
division commanded by General Cialdini. The Duke 
d' Aumale presented his nephew with two English chargers 
of great value, so that it would appear his conduct is en- 
tirely sanctioned by his family. The Duke de Chartres, 
thus explained his motives in a letter to his brother. 

" I am here to learn the profession of arms. I do not 
inquire into the apparent or secret motives of the war. It 
is sufficient for me, that I serve in an army of brave men, 
with a constitutional King at its head, who has ever treated 
my family with kindness and coui'tesy. What is more, I 
fight side by side with French soldiers, and that is surely 
inducement enough." 

The Duke de Chartres was of course not admitted into 
the ranks, without the Emperor having first been consulted. 
He has expressed his intention of conferring on the Duke 
de Chartres, with his own hand, at the first opportunity, 
the military medal, a proceeding which will place the 
young French Prince in an embarassing position. 

Count Eynard de Cavour, nephew and heir to the Minis- 
ter who was recently attache of the Sardinian embassy in 
London, has also joined the army. Count Eynard de 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 235 

Cavour is the only son of the Marquis de Cavour; the 
elder brother of Ejnard having been killed at the battle 
of Goito. 

Amongst the enemies of France, though not in active 
service, there is a great historical French name, that of 
K-ohan Guemenee, that brave indomitable race that once, 
disdaining all title, had for its haughty motto : 
Prince ne daigne, 
E,oi ne puis, 
Rohan Suis. 

The uncle of this recreant Prince accepted, in 1808, let- 
ters of naturalization from the Emperor Francis. Not 
content with having abjured his country, the present Prince 
Camille has given the sum of ten thousand florins to equip 
a corps to oppose the French. 

The enthusiasm in this war amongst the population of 
France exceeds all belief. Not alone has sympathy for 
the Italian cause inspired it. The French have along 
rankling hatred against the Austrians ; a hatred that has 
been inflamed by the late insulting diplomatic documents 
of the Austrian Cabinet. The workmen gather in groups 
about the streets of the cities, talking over the battles and 
news from the seat of war, as they did in the days of the 
camfagne d'ltalie ; the women scarcely deign to look at a 
civilian. Some idea of the belligerent inclinations of the 
French may be formed from the fact that the price of a 
military remplacant or substitute has not increased from 
what it was in the time of peace. All those who are drawn 
by the conscription, excite the envy of those whom prudence 
and family considerations restrain from joining the army 
as volunteers. 



236 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

The war lias been preached like a crusade by the 
celebrated P^re Lacordaire, a Dominican friar and a man 
of great influence. This man has a wild, energetic elo- 
quence added to immense physical power, indomitable 
courage and a voice of extraordinary depth and pathos. 
He advocated liberty of conscience, freedom of the press, 
and was at the head of the progressive religion of Lam- 
menais. His discourses at Notre Dame attracted the 
greatest intellects of the land, blending civil progress with 
religous progress he touched on all subjects, — nationality, 
industry, commerce, inventions, telegraphs and rail roads. 
He had a profound veneration for the Emperor Napo- 
leon I. At the conclusion of one of his discourses, hav- 
ing dismissed his audience, (though in a church, it could 
scarcely be called a congregation), he exclaimed in a loud 
voice : " Stop ! I have not done ! The priests will tell 
you that you ought to thank God that you are Chris- 
tians ! I say thank God that you are Frenchmen. Listen 
to the glories you have achieved. Drink to the dregs the 
chalice of your glories, for bitter must be the reproaches of 
your consciences when I tell you that Napoleon made 
you what you are." This was in 1840. No wonder then 
that in 1848, Lacordaire joined the Republican party, 
and finally rallied to the modern Napoleon. The rever- 
end father has addressed a circular letter to the Catho- 
lics of France, in which he condescendingly approves 
of the war, and declares ''that the evils and the sufferings 
the war will entail are all caused by the course pursued 
by Austria towards the Pope. If the Papal Government 
has become unpopular, it is owing to the oppression of 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 237 

Austria, and to the servitude in which it has "been kept 
since 1848." 

The holy father concludes by a prayer that Napoleon 
may destroy the armies and Empire of Austria. 

In addition to the Austrian Generals, of whom notices 
were given in a preceding chapter, the names of Count 
Clam-Gallas and General Schaaffgottsche occur as offi- 
cers of high position. 

Clam-Gallas was Commander-General of Bohemia, in 
1858. His head-quarters, at that time, were at Prague, 
the capital of the Province. 

Schaaffgottsche, during the same year, was Military 
Commandant of the Provinces of Moravia and Silesia. 
His head-quarters were at Briinn. He was originally a 
General of Cavalry. Both of these men hold the title of 
Count, in addition to their military rank. 

Both have seen some service, but performed no brilliant 
stroke of arms to distinguish them from ordinary Gener- 
als. Their capacity has to be tested, and they will have 
full opportunity of proving their mettle. 

The Austrian army has received, as a volunteer. Prince 
Nicholas de Nassau, a half-brother of the reigning Duke. 
In taking leave of the Diet of Nassau, of which his 
brother had made him President, he said that he was proud 
of being the first German Prince who, from his independ- 
ent position, is enabled to fight in the ranks of the defend- 
ers of his country against oppressors and invaders. 

Thus the Austrians imagine they are fighting for liberty 
just as much as the Italians ! 

Besides the French Generals discussed in the first part 



238 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of this chapter, there are two others of distinction, who 
may, at any moment, be called to the field. These are 
Marshals Castellane and Magnan. 

Marshal Castellane, born in 1778, comes of a noble 
Provencal family. His father was a liberal member of 
the Etats Generaux ; his mother was a Rohan Chabot. In 
1804, he served in the ranks, and rose gradually and by 
merit to be Sub-Lieutenant, in 1806, when he joined the 
army in Italy. In 1809, he received, at Wagram, the 
Cross of the Legion of Honor. M. de Castellane was 
one of those men Napoleon used to take by the ear and 
call by some affectionate name ; one of those on whom he 
relied, and to whom he confided private missions of impor- 
tance. He was in the disastrous campaign of Russia, 
where he had his right hand frozen ofi". 

After Waterloo, he continued in the army, under the 
Bourbons, and served in Spain, where his moderation 
gained for him the esteem of the Spaniards themselves. 
Under Louis Phillippe, he went to the seige of Antwerp, 
was made a Peer of France, and served for a short time 
in Africa. 

It was owing to the firmness and activity of the Mar- 
shal, that the emeute of 1851, at Lyons, was sup- 
pressed. As a reward for this service, the Emperor made 
him Marshal, and presented him with the Grand Cross of 
the Legion of Honor. 

An untiring activity, great vivacity and quickness of 
intellect characterize the Mtirshal. Age has deprived him 
of none of his mental vigor. His eccentricities are pro- 
verbial among the soldiers, who have the greatest esteem 
for his talents, as well as attachment to his person. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 239 

Bernard Magnan, now Marshal of France, was born in 
Paris in 1791. He was in the campaigns of Portugal and 
Spain, and for his brilliant conduct at Yittoria was deco- 
rated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor, on the field 
of battle. Although he had fought in the battle of Water- 
loo on the side of Napoleon, he was, through the influence 
of Gouvion St. Cyr, admitted into the Q-arde Royale. In 
1823, he again fought in Spain, under the command of 
Marshal Moncej. He also distinguished himself in Al- 
giers in 1830, especially at the seige of Bone. In 1831, 
Magnan being sent to quell a riot at Lyons, instead of 
charging the people, entered into negotiations with the 
rioters and offended the authorities, for which he was put 
on half pay. 

Magnan then offered his services to the King of the 
Belgians, who gave him the command of twenty-five thous- 
and men, (half the Belgian army), at the camp of Bev- 
erloo. 

Magnan afterwards returned to France, where he had 
command of an army of observation in the Pyrenees. At 
the affair of Boulogne, in 1841, Marshal Magnan was impli- 
cated and accused in the Chamber of Peers of compli- 
city with Louis Napoleon ; a charge which he indignantly 
denied. 

At the time of the Revolution, in 1848, not being on 
active duty, he offered his services to Louis Philippe. He, 
nevertheless, remained at the Tuilleries, and was the only 
General Ofiicer who accompanied the Duchess of Orleans 
and her children in their ill-advised visit to the Chambers. 

He was appointed by Arago to the command of the 



240 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Army of the Alps, and being informed of the riots of June, 
he brought the whole Division to the succor of Paris, by 
forced marches achieving one hundred and twenty leauges 
in seven days. Charles Albert was about to confide to 
him the command of the Sardinian army, but hesitating, 
as he always did, until it was too late, Magnan refused to 
accept the responsibility of commanding a half conquered 
soldiery. 

In 1851, the ^command of the army of Paris was con- 
ferred upon him. He was one of the few persons in the 
secret of the coup d'etdty and, during the 2d and 3d of 
December, executed the orders of Marshal St. Arnaud 
with promptness and fidelity. In return for his services 
at this period, he was made Marshal of France, and 
Grand Ofiicer of the Legion of Honor. In the Emperor's 
household he is Master of the Hunt. Upon his fidelity 
now rests the stability of Louis Napoleon's throne, should 
the latter meet any serious reverses in Italy. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

FOKMER WARS BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND FRANCE — NAPOLEON's CAMPAIGNS 
AGAINST AUSTRIA. 

Fkom the deep interest felt in the present war, it is mani- 
fest that a resume of the great actions performed on the 
plains of Italy, by the Austrians and French, would prove 
a source of amusement and gratification. It is only pro- 
posed to give a summary of the wars which have happened 
between them during the last seventy-five years. It is in 
these alone that an immediate interest will be felt. 

Austria was one of the first nations that took up arms 
against the French Revolution. In connection with Prus- 
sia, in 1795, her armies invaded France. After a des- 
perate struggle they were driven out by the energy of the 
French Republican Assembly, and by the valor and mili- 
tary skill of General Dumourier. The French Assembly, 
by a conscription, called out one million two hundred thou- 
sand men for the defence of the country, a military exer- 
tion which has seldom, if ever, been equalled in military 
annals. 

Prussia and Spain withdrew from the coalition, and in 

1796, Austria was left to sustain the shock of the French 

in Italy. She was supported by the King of Sardinia, a 

State which is now her bitter enemy. The French army, 
241 Q 



242 ITALY AND THE WAK OF 1859. 

under Napoleon, in two campaigns, detaclied Sardinia from 
her alliance, drove her troops out of Italy, and pursued 
them into Germany nearly to the gates of Vienna. Under 
the walls of that capital France dictated peace to Austria 
in 1797. By that peace she made large accessions of ter- 
ritory and influence in Germany. As a recompense, 
Napoleon assigning her Venice and Lombardy, first made 
her an Italian power. 

In 1799, Austria and Russia took up arms against 
France, and for a time were very successful. They drove 
the French out of Italy. In the latter part of that year, 
however. Napoleon returned from Egypt. He induced 
the Russian Emperor, Paul, to withdraw from the Austrian 
alliance. Having accomplished this, he led his army into 
Italy. On the plains of Marengo he fought a decisive 
battle, the result of which expelled Austria from Italy. It 
was soon followed up by the victory of Hohenlinden, in 
Germany, gained by the French, under General Moreau. 
The French columns were again near Vienna, and again 
France compelled Austria to sue for peace. 

In 1804, the Emperor of France became King of Italy. 
Immediately after, Austria and Russia attacked France. 
Such, however, was the power of the latter, that in six 
months one Austrian army was destroyed at Ulm, and 
another, together with the Russians, destroyed at Auster- 
litz. The French entered Vienna, and again dictated a 
peace. 

In 1809, Austria and France again met in collision on 
the tented field. The French, however, under Napoleon, 
marched down the valley of the Danube, with the velocity 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 243 

almost of the wind, and in one campaign took up their 
quarters in Vienna. A severe and ignominious peace for 
Austria was the result. 

In 1813, Austria united with all the great Powers of 
Europe, overthrew the French Empire, and broke down 
the Power which had so often entered the gates of Vienna 
in triumph. By the treaties of 1814 and 1815, the north- 
ern States of Italy, Venice and Lombardy, were ceded to 
Austria by the leading nations of Europe. It is now on 
the faith of these treg^ties that Austria rests her case, and 
appeals to the rest of Germany and to England to assist 
her in maintaining them inviolate. 

The following short summary of the campaigns of Bo- 
naparte in Italy, will also be interesting at the present 
time, and will illustrate the strength of the positions now 
held by the Austrians. 

The command of the army of Italy was assumed by 
l^apoleon about the end of March, 1796. It consisted of 
42,000 men and sixty guns — the troops being in the most 
destitute condition. 

Beaulieu and Colli, the Austrian and Sardinian Gen- 
erals, had under them 50,000 men and 200 guns ; and 
24,000 Sardinian's, who were then allied with the Austrians, 
guarded the avenues of Inez against Kellerman's army of 
nearly equal strength; the French mostly occupying the 
crests and their opponents the valleys leading to the Italian 
plains. Penetrating by Col de Cadibon, he succeeded in 
separating the Austrians from the Piedmontese, and in 
beating the former at Montenotte. The exact reverse of 
this operation was performed by the Austrians in 1800, 



244 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

who succeeded then in doing what they were attempting 
now against Bonaparte — for, beating Soult at Montenotte, 
they cut the French army in two, and shut Massena up in 
Genoa without the possibility of communicating with 
Prance. Shortly after Montenotte, Augereau beat the 
Sardinians at Millessimo. Bonaparte carried Dego, and, 
Sardinia being then open to the French, they devoted 
themselves first to crushing the Sardinian, army. The in- 
trenched camp at Ceva was turned; Colli defeated at 
Mondovi; and then the King of Sardinia concluded an 
armistice, giving up Coni, Ceva, and Alessandria to the 
French. Shortly' after Sardinia retired from the coalition 
against France. 

Beaulieu had retired behind the Po. Bonaparte efiected 
its passage at Placentia, thus turning the line of the 
Ticino. The Austrians on coming up were beaten in 
detail at Fombio and Pizzighettone, and compelled to con- 
centrate behind the Adda. Bonaparte pushing for Milan, 
crossed the Adda at Lodi in the face of the Austrians, and 
entered that capital, from which he forced contributions 
of 20,000,000 francs. 

Beaulieu retired behind the Mincio, from which he was 
driven by an action at Valleggio, and Bonaparte then oc- 
cupied Verona and Legnano. 

Beaulieu retired to Roveredo to defend the passes of the 
Tyrol, leaving still a garrison in Mantua, which the French 
blockaded. 

Marshal Wurmser then arrived with reinforcements, 
which raised the Austrian army to 60,000. The French 
had altogether 55,000, of whom 15,000 were before Man- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 245 

tua, and 10,000 keeping up the communications, leaving 
only 30,000 to meet the Austrians in the field. The 
Austrians had the intention of raising the blockade of 
Mantua. They advanced in two divisions, separated by 
the Lake of Garda. Wurmser passed the Adige at Casti- 
glione ; but, extending his line too far to the right to join 
Quasdanovich, was beaten at Senate and Medola, and had 
to retreat to Roveredo. 

Wurmser then formed the idea of doubling round by the 
Yal Sugana, debouching at Bassano, and coming upon 
the rear of the enemy, who were endeavouring to force 
their way up the Adige. Bonaparte beat Davidovich, 
who was left at Roveredo, both at that place and at Gal- 
liano ; and, leaving Yaubois to guard his rear, followed 
Wurmser down the Brenta, beat him at Bassano, and forced 
him to take refuge in Mantua. 

The French force was now very weak, and they were 
driven back from the Tyrol and from the Brenta to the 
Adige, and beaten at Caldiero. 

Bonaparte succeeded, however, in turning this last men- 
tioned impregnable position by crossing the marshes on 
a causeway at Areola, and again the Austrians had to re- 
treat. 

Provera now endeavored to raise the siege of Mantua 
by advancing from Padua. Alvinzi opposed Bonaparte 
on the Adige. The battle of Bivoli, very nearly lost, was 
gained by a dishonorable deception by Napoleon; and 
Provera was also forced to surrender. The Austrians, 
driven back, rallied only on the Tagliamento and the 
Drave, and Wurmser surrendered Mantua. 



246 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

In March, 1797, Bonaparte formed the idea of pushmg 
on to the hereditary States of Austria, — a most rash under- 
taking, as he had no secure base of com_munications, and 
none which could have even been attempted if the Austrians 
had retreated into the Tyrol instead of towards the Drave, 
and had left that direct approach toVienna, in w^hich there 
are numerous strong positions, to be guarded by country 
levies. The French, passing successively the Tagliamento 
and the Isonzo, seized Trieste and Laybach, and occupied 
the important Col de Tarvis. They crossed the Drave at 
Villach, advanced to Klagenfurth, forced the defiles of 
Neumarkt, and pushed on to Judembourg, on the Muhr. 
In this moment of extreme danger to Bonaparte the Aus- 
trians surrendered, and eventually the well-known peace 
of Campo Formio was signed, by which France gained 
large portions of Austrian territory in the North of Eu- 
rope, and Austria received the North of Italy in exchange. 

While Bonaparte was absent in Egypt the French were 
everywhere driven back in Italy. Scherer had 57,000 on 
the Adige, to oppose 58,000 Imperialists, with 6,000 horse 
on the Tagliamento, under Kray, who had a reserve of 
25,000 in Carinthia and a large and effective field artillery. 
The French advanced and nearly reached Verona, but 
were soon driven back and entirely routed at Magnano. 
The Austrians were now joined by 20,000 Russians under 
Suwaroff. Moreau, succeeding to the command of the 
French, fell back behind the Adda. The river was crossed 
by a surprise, Serrurier obliged to surrender, and the 
French retreated behind the Ticino on to Turin and Ales- 
sandria, there to await the arrival of Macdonald's army 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 247 

from Naples. Suwaroff having by rapid movement sur- 
prised Turin, Moreau had to fall back on Genoa. The 
road bj Ceva was blocked up, but he succeeded in arriving 
by mountain paths at Loano, a coast town West of Genoa. 
The orders of the Aulic Council prevented Suwaroff at- 
tacking Moreau on these mountains. 

Macdonald, meanwhile, was advancing by Modena, Par- 
ma, and Placentia, to attack the Austrian communica- 
tion; hearing which, Suwaroff collected 30,000 men and 
6,000 horse, and, after three days' fight on the Trebbia, 
beat the French who had to retreat to Genoa. Shortly 
after, Mantua and Alessandria were taken by the Aus- 
trians. 

Joubert now took command of the French, and, advanc- 
ing, came in contact with the Austrians at Novi. After a 
hotly-disputed battle, the French were totally routed and 
fled in confusion. 

Championnet next had command of the French, who 
numbered 60,000, against Melas, who had 68,000 in the 
field. Being ordered to relieve Coni, he advanced with 
35,000 men; but the disunited French columns were 
separately assailed by Melas, and overwhelmed at Genoa. 
St. Cyr beat the Austrians at Novi ; but, an epidemic 
breaking out, the French army entirely broke up, and 
Genoa was the only place left to them in Italy. 

In 1800, Bonaparte, as First Consul, took command of 
the Army of Italy which was to attack the Austrians, 
while Moreau struck a blow at the Hereditary States and 
Germany. 

Massena took command of the Army of the Alps, con- 



248 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

sisting of 28,000 men, to whom 60,000 Austrians were 
opposed, under Melas, who determined to take Genoa. 

Attacking in three columns, the latter defeated Soult at 
Montenotte, and cut off Suchet from the main body ; (the 
latter was afterwards again beaten at Monte Giacomo, by 
Elnitz, followed up by Melas ; again routed at Borghetto, 
and driven into France). Massena, driven into Genoa and 
blockaded, ultimately surrendered, with 9,000 men. 

Meanwhile, Bonaparte had effected his celebrated pas- 
sage of the St. Bernard. On the 28th, his army was 
united at Ivrea, having turned the little Fort Bard. 
Moncey, with 16,000 men, crossed the St. Gothard. Other 
corps descended by Susa and the Simplon; so that 60,000 
men were assembled in Piedmont, in the rear of the Imperial- 
ists. Bonaparte advanced rapidly, and took Milan. Pla- 
centia and Pavia fell into the hands of the French ; the line 
of the Po was forced, and the Austrians thus cut off from 
Mantua and their reserves in Eastern Italy. At Monte- 
bello the Austrians were beaten, and the French occupied 
the Pass of Stradella, between the Apennines and the Po, 
where Bonaparte had the idea of waiting to intercept the 
enemy. 

Meanwhile, Melas concentrated at Alessandria. Suchet, 
advancing, was vigorously pressing Elnitz, and Melas was 
determined to cut his way through the French army. 
Bonaparte advanced from Stradella, and the two armies 
met near Alessandria, on the plains of Marengo — the 
Austrians being 31,000 with 7,500 horse, and the French 
25,400 with 3,600 cavalry. At daybreak the Austrians 
attacked and carried all before them till late in the after- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 249 

noon, when Kellerman's horse made a flank charge, and 
turned the fate of the day. An armistice was now conclud- 
ed at Alessandria. The Austrians had to fall back to 
the Mincio, and Bonaparte returned in triumph to France. 
The observations that may be made from this account 
are — 1st, That the Austrians beat all the French Generals 
when they were not headed by Napoleon. 2nd, That 
three of Bonaparte's great victories — -viz, Montenotte, 
Rivoli, and Marengo -^ were won more by good luck and 
treachery than by good management or by any superiority 
of the French troops. 3rd, That the places which Napo- 
leon's great strategic genius marked as the decisive points, 
are those which the Austrians have now fortified in the 
strongest manner. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE PAPAL STATES — AREA — POPULATION — ABMT — EEVENUE — TRADE — 

AGRICULTURE GOVERNMENT ROME THE VATICAN THE QUIRINAL 

ST. PETERS SAN MARINO PIUS VII. RAVAROLI CONSALVI 

LEO XII. THE SANFADESTI — -REVOLT OF 1831 — NATIONAL COLORS OF 

ITALY GREGORY XVI. GAETANO LAMBRUSCHINI PIUS IX. HIS 

REFORMS UGO BASSO — -THE POPE's PRIVATE HISTORY — COUNT ROSSI 

REVOLUTION OF 1848 FLIGHT OF THE POPE COUNTESS SPAUR 

ANTONELLI GASPERONE — -ANTONELLI AS PREMIER — -MAMIANI THE 

ADMINISTRATION OF ANTONELLI SINCE 1849 MAZZINI HIS EARLY LIFE 

EXPULSION FROM ITALY THE BANDIERA AND MORO SIR. JAMES 

GRAHAM MAZZINI'S PART IN THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 HIS LIFK 

SINCE THE RECENT MANIFESTO. 



The Pontifical States, or, as they are sometimes called, 
the "States of the Church," consist of nineteen divisions 
for administrative purposes. Some of them are known tech- 
nically as Legations, others by the name of Delegations. 
There are six of the former and thirteen of the latter ; 
and Rome itself, including the District of Comarca. The 
Legations are Bologna, Ferrara (Ciachi), Forli, Ravenna, 
Urbino and Pesaro, and Velletri. The Delegations are 
Ancona, Macerata, Camerino, Fermo, Ascoli, Perugio, 
Spoleto, Rieti, Viterbo, Orvieto, Frosinone, Civita Vecchia, 
and Benevento. 

These States or Departments occupy almost a central 
position in Italy. They are bounded on the North by 
250 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 251 

Austrian Italy, East hj the Adriatic, South-East by 
Naples, South- West by the Mediteranean, West by Tus- 
cany, and North- West by Modena. It is evident from 
their position, that under the management of an able and 
vigorous Government they could, in a great measure, give 
tone to the politics of the Peninsula, and more or less 
shape and mould the future destinies of the other States. 
Besides, around them linger the traditions of the two 
thousand five hundred years during which they have 
directed either the civil government, or controlled the 
spiritual opinions of the whole of Italy. 

The total area of these States is 17,210 square miles, 
an extent of territory very little less than the continental 
possessions of Victor Emanuel, as large as the whole of the 
Austro-Italian Provinces, and more than half as large as 
the Kingdom of Naples exclusive of Sicily. Their popu- 
lation in 1853 was 3,124,665. This last census gives a 
population of 183 to the square mile. From 1843 to 1853, 
including the period of the revolution, the increase in 
population was 276,553. 

The army of the Roman States upon a war footing, as 
given by a very recent authority, numbers 15,255 foot 
soldiers and 1,350 cavalry. Another, and perhaps more 
accurate authority, says it numbers 17,365 men, with 1,417 
cavalry. 

The revenue of these States, in 1854, was $12,542,500; 
of this sum $5,987,500 were derived from customs; the 
balance, almost all, was raised by direct taxation. But 
these figures do not exhibit anything like the amount of 
revenue actually raised. An authority entitled to high 
credit says, in discussing this matter : 



252 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

" The greater part of it (the Papal revenue) is ecclesi- 
astical, of which no account is kept." There can, there- 
fore, be no public exhibit of it made. The distribution of 
the secular revenue was partly as follows : 

Interest on Public Debt, . $4,995,500. 

Army, . . . . . 1,904,500. 

Interior, .... 1,581,500. 
The balance of the expenditures went to the civil list, 
the whole amounting to $14,395,000; the excess of the 
disbursements over the receipts being, for that year, 
$1,852,500. The public debt of these States is $82,000,000, 
a debt greater than that owed by Naples, Bavaria or Tur- 
key, all three of which States have more than double the 
resources and population of the Popedom. 

The Papal States have but two seaports accessible to 
foreign commerce, although they have a sea coast line of 
210 miles on the Adriatic, and 160 on the Mediterranean. 
These sea ports are Ancona and Civita Yecchia. There 
is little trade between the Northern and Southern States, 
owing to the fact that the Apennines traverse the interior 
in a South and South-East direction; some of their 
peaks, like Vetera and Sibilla, running to the height of 
seven and eight thousand feet. Intercourse is thus ren- 
dered very difficult, and the only kind of transportation 
across these mountains that is carried on is upon mules. 

It is in these mountains that the celebrated banditti of 
the Roman States find homes ; and it is along the roads 
traversing them, that these modern Fra Diavoli largely 
transact throat-cutting and pocket-picking, in the most 
approved and gentlemanly style of their profession. They 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 253 

do not exclusively confine their operations to mountain 
roads. They occasionally perform some dashing feat upon 
the public highways between Rome and Civita Vecchia, and 
between Kome and Naples. 

The total value of the foreign commerce of these States 
was estimated in 1852, thus : exports, $11,475,000 ; im- 
ports, $11,294,000. The total number of shipping arri- 
vals during 1852, were 2,311 — 1,080 of them being coast- 
wise, and the remainder foreign. The clearances during 
the same year, were 2,292, coastwise 1,082, foreign 1,210. 
The merchant marine comprised in the previous year 863 
large vessels, with an aggregate of 28,204 tons, and 567 
smaller ones with no return of the amount of their ton- 
nage. 

Agriculture is conducted in a most careless manner. 
The country, if cultivated according to the improved meth- 
ods of modern times, would produce much more abun- 
dantly than it now does. The chief products are wheat, 
maize, pulse, hemp, wine, oil and tobacco. It is no won- 
der that the inhabitants have, in a large measure, to sub- 
sist as the Tuscans do, upon chestnuts ; for not more than 
one-third of the whole superficial area of the country is 
under tillage. 

The manufactures are similar to those of Modena, Par- 
ma and Tuscany. 

An American writer who has closely studied the nature 
of the Pontifical Government, thus describes its principal 
characteristics. 

" The Government is of a very peculiar kind, not easily 
reducible to any of the generally recognized forms ; 



254 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

though, in its leading feature, it is an elective monarchy. 
The Sovereign, who bears the name of Papa or Pope, must 
be at the time of his election a cardinal-priest, and is 
chosen for life bv his fellow-cardinals, who constitute what 
is called the Sacred College, and must be all priests. The 
hierarchical principle thus displayed is not confined to the 
higher offices, but is continued throughout the whole series 
— the priesthood being an indispensable qualification for 
the tenure of any civil office ; though, in regard to some, 
the priestly character seems to be more nominal than real, 
as individuals regarded as priests while in office are some- 
times not truly in orders, and again become laymen when 
the office expires. The number of cardinals, in imitation 
of the evangelists sent out by our Saviour, is limited to 70, 
and all vacancies may be filled up by the Pope absolutely, 
without control : though, in practice, the number is seldom 
complete. ^^Tien the Pope dies, the cardinal-chamberlain 
occupies his place till the ninth day, when the funeral 
takes place. On the tenth day, the cardinals meet in 
secret conclave, and so continue till a majority of two- 
thirds are agreed as to a successor. Even then the elec- 
tion is not determined, as Austria, France, and Spain have 
each a veto on one candidate. In the event of their exer- 
cising it, the whole process must again be gone over, and 
full scope is given for all kinds of intrigue. 

" The Government is administered by Boards or Congre- 
gazioni, presided over by a Cardinal-Secretary of State as 
Prime Minister. The principal Congregazioni are the 
Camera Apostolica, or Treasury, presided over by the 
Cardinal-Chamberlain, the only Minister who holds of- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 255 

fice for life; the Cancelleria or Chancery — President, 
the Cardinal-Chancellor; the Dataria, for Ecclesiastical 
Benefices ; the Buon Governo, for Municipal Police ; the 
Congregazione de' Monti, for Public Debt ; the Sacra Con- 
sulta, for the Political and Civil Administration of the 
Provinces ; the Segnatura, or Court of Seals ; and the 
Sacra Ruota, or Supreme Court of Justice. The Comar- 
ca of Rome is presided over by a Governor, who has very 
extensive powers, and can inflict capital punishment ; the 
Provinces, or Legazioni and Belegazioni, by Legates and 
Delegates, each assisted by a Council consisting of the 
Gonfaloniere of the chief town, and from two to four 
Councillors, nominated by the Pope for five years. The 
Delegations are subdivided into Districts, (Distretti,) head- 
ed by Governors, who act as Judges without appeal in all 
civil cases under 300 scudi, and subject to appeal in minor 
criminal cases. The appeal is, in the first instance, to 
the Collegiate Court, which is composed of the Delegate, 
two Assessors, an Ordinary Judge, and a member of the 
Communal Council, and has primary jurisdiction over the 
whole Delegation. 

" Above the Collegiate Courts are three superior Courts 
of Appeal. One is the Segnatura, at Rome ; another sits 
at Bologna ; and the third at Macerata. A still higher 
Court of Appeal is the Sacra Ruota, the limit of whose 
jurisdiction is not very easily defined, as it once extended 
over the whole Christian world, and is still very extensive 
in all countries where the Pope's authority is generally 
recognized. It is composed of 12 Prelates, 6 of whom 
are appointed by the Pope, 2 by Spain, and 1 each by 



256 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

France, Germany, Tuscany, and Milan. The system of 
law is extremely defective, since it scouts all the modern 
improvements in jurisprudence, and refuses to recognise 
any codes but the canon law and corpus juris.'' 

Rome, the sepulchral monument of ages, of glory, and 
power, has been impressed by so many descriptions on the 
minds of all, that to notice her stupendous antiquities 
would be out of place. Home^ the city of the Pope, is an 
object of interest in the present war; therefore to modern 
Catholic Rome shall especial reference be made. 

The Vatican is an immense construction, composed of 
several palaces and gardens, altogether making up the 
largest pile of buildings in Europe. Although its archi- 
tecture is neither symmetrical nor regular, owing to its 
having been built at various periods, it bears the mark of 
the greatest artists of the world ; all of whom were in turn 
employed in its construction. Some date the foundation 
of the Vatican to Constantino the Great ; it certainly 
was a palace of importance in Rome when Charlemagne 
was crowned in it, by Pope Leo III. 

It did not become the Pontifical residence until after the 
return of the Popes from Avignon in 1377. The Popes 
who contributed most to the embellishment of the Vati- 
can were Giulio II., who employed the pencil of the great 
Raphael, Leo X., and Sextus V. But all have lavish- 
ed time, wealth and talent upon the decoration of this 
richest of all princely residences. The Sistine chapel, (in 
the Vatican), especially dedicated to the ceremonies of the 
Holy Week, contains "The Last Judgment" of Michael 
Angelo, and the great picture of Raphael, known as "Xa 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 257 

3Iadonna di San Sisto. The Library of the Vatican is 
magnificent as a building ; invaluable for its collection of 
choice, rare books and manuscripts. The Libraries of the 
Elector palatine, of the Duke d'Urbino, of Queen Chris- 
tina of Sweden, and of the houses of Ottoboni, and Cap- 
poni, have been all added to the Treasury of the Vatican. 

The picture gallery of the Vatican contains the works 
of Titian, Andrea del Sacchi, Carravaggio, Domenichino, 
Poussin, Guide, Penugino, Raphael, Corregio, and those of 
numerous other great names of the artistic world. The 
Vatican is three stories high, it contains 4,422 rooms, eight 
grand staircases, besides the gallery, chapel, and library, 
and has attached to it a delicious garden. This residence 
of the Popes stands on a hill, and at one point is con- 
nected with St. Peter's, while a covered gallery joins it to 
the Castle of St. Angelo. 

The superb Palace of the Quirinal, situated on one of 
the most beautiful heights^ of Rome, sometimes called 
Monte Cavallo, is a favorite residence of the Popes. It 
was built by Gregory VIIL, in 1574, and has been em- 
bellished by each succeeding Pope, especially by Pius VII. 
The garden of this palace is very extensive, and has been 
planted with great taste. It commands a magnificent 
view of the City of Rome. In the square of the Quirinal, 
or Monte Cavallo, stands the Palace of La Consulta, the 
seat of the Imperial Tribunal. The Palace of Salviati 
contains the archives of Rome. The most magnificent 
Christian temple in the world is the Basilica of St. Peters. 
It was began by Pope Nicolas V., in 1450, with the ex- 
press intention of surpassing in its construction the glories 
of the temple of Solomon. 



258 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

All the arts and all the celebrites of all the arts have 
contributed to the decoration and construction of this 
superb edifice, the greatest monument of modern Rome 
and one of the wonders of the world. 

The streets of Rome are wide and well paved, the whole 
city teems with monuments of ancient days and palaces of 
the middle ages, w^hilst the number of modern hotels de- 
note the affluence of foreigners and visitors. Here is a 
whole population of students in painting and sculpture. 
The Jewish population is confined to the left side of the 
Tiber. It is the dirtiest part of the city, and is called the 
Ghetto. 

Surrounded on all sides by the Papal States, like a small 
gem in a large setting, is the tiny Republic of San Marino. 
It is a mountain of the Apennines, only six miles west of 
Rimini, in the Roman State. This mountain, with seven 
thousand inhabitants, forms a Republican, independent 
State. It existed before the Republic of Venice, and still 
exists, like a relic of Italian liberty. Neither Napoleon, 
nor the Congress of Vienna, thought of destroying this 
miniature Republic; but the Pope claims to be its "pro- 
tector," which, in a diplomatic sense, means oppressor. 
Those poor mountaineers hospitably received, in 1849, the 
fugitive Roman citizens who succeeded in reaching their 
small territory ; but, after a few days, the Consuls of the 
Republic were obliged to inform the refugees that they had 
no means of protecting them against the vengeance of the 
Pope, who claimed the right of extradition. 

The history of the Papal States is a very curious one. 
The dual capacity in which the Pope acts, as Head of the 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 259 

Church, and temporal Sovereign of these States, gives rise 
to a complication of authority that is very singular. The 
Popes began to acquire territory about the middle of the 
Eighth Century^ It was, however, extremely limited until 
Pepin le Bref, Charlemagne, and the Emperor Henry III., 
increased its extent by various successive grants. Pope 
Julius II., who died in 1513, consolidated them into nearly 
their present form. 

When the French Revolution of 1789 occurred, the Pope 
lost Avignon and Venaissin, and in 1797 he lost a number 
of his Legations, having been compelled to cede them to 
the Cis-Alpine Hepublic. In 1808, Napoleon, after hav- 
ing imprisoned Pius VII., divided the remainder of the 
Popedom between the two great political vortices of that 
day, the Kingdom of Italy and the French Empire. 

Pius VII. was the first of all the dethroned and banished 
monarchs of Italy, who reentered his dominions in 1814. 
His first care, after he set foot in Rome, was sedulously to 
banish all traces of the French regime, although opposed 
by some of his cardinals, who persisted in refusing to believe 
that all French innovations were the work of Satan. Still 
the reactionists carried the day, under the especial influence 
of Cardinal Rivarola, who never heard France or Frenchmen 
named before him without making th^ sign of the cross. The 
Pope and his Minister gradually suppressed all the French 
laws and institutions known at Rome. They wished to 
appear in all the barbaric majesty of the middle ages, and 
not disguised in the mountebank costume of modern re- 
volutionists. Cardinal Consalvi, who succeeded Rivarola, 
pretended, however, to bring upon this old monarchy some 



260 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 



semblance of liberality, but it consisted more in fine pro- 
mises than in actual execution. Still, being a man of 
judgment and conscience, he displayed considerable ability 
in the administration of affairs, and exercised a certain 
degree of tolerance in political and religious matters. 

Annibale della Genga, who succeeded Pius VII., in 1823, 
under the name of Leo XII., was a bigoted priest. A 
Pope worthy of the age of iron ! he looked on the moder- 
ation of Consalvi as Jacobinism, concealed under a Cardi- 
nal's hat. Accordingly, he hastened to get rid of him, 
and reestablished Rivarola, with his hatreds, prejudices, 
and cruelties, into full power. Together, the Pope and the 
Cardinal revived the Holy Inquisition, and once again 
imparted full force to the order of the Sanfedesti. 

This Order, which still exists in Italy, and probably 
in all countries where the religion of Christ takes the 
form of Catholicism, deserves peculiar mention. It was 
founded in 1773, when the Jesuits were persecuted by 
all the Catholic Courts of Europe, and afterwards sup- 
pressed by a bull of Pope Clement XIV. It then took 
the name of the Society of the Holy Faith. Bishops 
and ecclesiastical dignitaries of great influence, were then, 
and afterwards, admitted into the society. Its first mem- 
bers were styled Padri Sanfedesti, but soon after they 
founded a brotherhood called Fratelli Sanfedesti, composed 
of laymen, and belonging generally to lower classes. They 
knew nothing of the secret aim and organization of the 
society ; they are bound only to obey the orders they re- 
ceive without inquiry, because the end sanctifies the deed, 
however wicked, by the good which the leaders may have 
in view. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 261 

The blind executioners of the will of their leaders are 
generally men who have committed dreadful crimes, and 
have entered into the society as the means of making 
atonement for their crimes, and of thus securing their 
eternal salvation. Secure of immunity, they, often indulge 
in new crimes without restraint. They are the sworn 
enemies of freedom, as proved by one of the oaths ad- 
ministered to them on their admission. "I swear," says 
the Sanfedist, "to spare no individual belonging to the 
Liberal party ; to have mercy on neither the aged, the 
women, nor the children, and to shed the last drop of blood, 
without regard to age, sex, or rank. I cover my head 
with black and yellow, the colors of the House of Austria, 
and on my heart yellow and white, the colors of the Pope, 
the Sovereign of Rome." 

These men are bound among themselves to support each 
other ; to bring false testimony to silence true witnesses. 
The officers of the police, and often even the judges, belong 
either to the Padri Sanfedesti, or to the Fratelli Sanfddesti. 

Highwaymen and brigands belong invariably to this 
society ; having protectors, and often accomplices, among 
the police, the prosecuting officers, and the judges, to detect 
and imprison. It is therefore difficult to procure their 
arrest, to convict them impossible. 

Leo XII. changed the Papal Government into a perfect 
theocracy. To the priests he confided all the schools and 
universities, and all civil power ; and commanded Latin to 
become the language of the tribunals and courts of law. 
At the same time he restored all the feudal privileges of 
the nobility, and discouraged commerce. He and Rivarola 



262 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

especially directed their persecutions against the Jews 
and the Carbonari. He issued a decree by which the 
Jews were forbidden to possess anything within his do- 
minions ; confining them to a special portion of the city 
of Rome, the gates of which were closed upon them at a 
given hour every night. The persecutions invented by 
Cardinal Rivarola against the Carbonari, and the execu- 
tion of the members of that association, served but to 
arouse the energies of the Liberal party. 

At length, in 1831, a revolt broke out in Bologna, and 
immediately Ferrara, Imola, Cesena, Eorli, Viterbo, Ri- 
mini, and Perugia, unfurled the national banner of free- 
dom, Red, White, and Green. 

" II verde, la speme tant 'anni pasciuta ; 
II rosso, la gioia d' averla compiuta ; 
II bianco la fede fraterna d' amor." 

[Free translation.) 

" G-reen^ sacred emblem of hope long deferred ; 
Red, token of joy, its fulfillment displays; 
White J holy image of union and love." 

It is said by one of the Liberals of Italy, that had this 
revolt of 1831, in Romagna, succeeded, it was the inten- 
tion of the Liberal party to have placed at the head of the 
Government one of the two nephews of Napoleon, who had 
joined the banners of the patriots ; the elder of whom died 
at Forli, and lies buried in the cloister of San Spirito, at 
Florence. The younger of those boys is now Emperor of 
the French. 

But the French and Austrian intervention suppressed 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 263 

the democratic movement. Gregory XVI. was elected 
Pope whilst the Popedom was in a state of combustion and 
disorganization, and found the French at Ancona, the 
Austrians at Bologna, and the people in open revolt. 
Seventeen years of tyranny, which he had been called 
upon to succeed, had brought utter prostration and misery. 
The years of Gregory's reign present only a uniformity 
of brutal and crushing tyranny. Agriculture and trade 
fell into decay ; the arts were utterly neglected ; the people 
burdened by heavy taxation, and the whole country reduced 
to a state of moral degradation. 

The Pope himself was a man of the basest passions and 
most sensual habits, leaving the whole management of 
affairs to Cardinal Lambruschini, and to his favorite, known 
as Gaetano. This latter was the apprentice of a barber, 
who lived opposite to the Convent in Via Camaldolesi, 
where resided Fra Mauro Capellari, afterwards Gregory 
XVI. Gaetano was raised at the time of the exaltation 
of his patron to the position of primo ca7nerieie^ or chief 
valet of the Pope. His influence is said to have been 
boundless. Scandal, in some degree warranted by the 
dissolute conduct of the Pope, assigned to the beautiful 
wife of Gaetano a still greater influence than her husband. 
The husband and wife were the only persons who took care 
of the Pope when he was sick or drunk. The latter cir- 
cumstance was of not unfrequent occurrence. Gregory 
was called "z7 hevone,'' the drunkard; and one of the pas- 
quinades at the time of his death says, " that he was un- 
able to open the gates of St. Peter, because when he 
applied the key to the gate of Heaven, he found that, in- 



264 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

stead of the keys of St. Peter, he had brought with him 
the keys of his wine cellar." 

Cardinal Lambruschini, for many years Prime Minister 
of Gregory XYI., to whom he left absolute power, was an 
object of intense hatred to the people. He oppressed them 
in every way, and drained the public treasury to enrich 
himself. He had, however, contrived to make friends 
among the younger Cardinals, and thoroughly relied on 
being, on the death of Gregory XVI., elected Pope. Car- 
dinal Fieschi, and several of the elder Cardinals, dreading 
the power of Lambruschini, and unwilling to place the 
Papal See in the grasp of any known leader of a party, 
gave their votes to an obscure and unknown individual, 
free from all the political intrigues of the day. This 
candidate was Cardinal Mastai-Ferretti, who thus became 
Pope Pius IX. "Pardon and Reform," were the first 
words uttered by Pius IX., after his accession on June 
16th, 1846. 

The political amnesty liberated over three thousand re- 
spectable citizens of Rome. The opening of the cells of 
the Papal prisons revealed scenes equalled only when the 
people of Paris threw open the dungeons of the Bastile, 
that prison, for ages, of royal caprice and brutal tyranny. 
The cells were opened in the presence of the multitude, 
and the liberated prisoners were an object of the deepest 
interest to all. 

When taken from their cells and brought to the light 
among the large crowd of their friends and relatives, they 
looked astonished and bewildered, as if suspecting that 
their triumph was but a dream. Many of them were en- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 265 

tirely disabled and worn out by ill-treatment, and some 
were brought blindfolded, upon chairs, because the slightest 
movement and the light would have injured them. Among 
them, in Rome, was a venerable old gentleman, carried by 
four of his sons, all full-grown men, formerly his fellow- 
prisoners. A ray of joy animated his dying face, and his 
heart was overwhelmed with happiness at the imposing 
sight of the Roman people, once more free, and evidently 
determined to maintain their freedom. Excess of joy ter- 
minated in a few days his already worn-out life. His last 
words were, "Never trust a Pope." 

A Roman lady thus describes the return of her son : 
'' They brought him to my arms," she wrote to me, "be- 
cause he could not walk at all, nor even change his sitting 
position. The dampness of his dungeon deprived him of 
the use of his limbs, and want of air and light made him 
look pale as death. His sparkling black eyes were shut, 
because he could not bear the light. I need not say what 
I felt at this sight. But he was in excellent spirits, and 
bade me be of good cheer, as he would recover in a few 
days. So thinks, too, our friend. Dr. JNJichele. But I feel 
that I am not able to hope for the best, for I have a sad 
presentiment. I have seen the amnesties of five Popes 
during my life, and know how much to rely upon them." 

One of the most remarkable amongst the prisoners was 
Ugo Basso, a monk of most enlightened mind, one of the 
greatest poets Italy has ever produced. He was saved, 
however, but to meet a more terrible fate. Having joined 
the Liberal party three years later, and fought under Gari- 
baldi, he was taken prisoner, and shot in his native city 



266 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of Bologna by order of Monslgnor Bedini. His youth, 
accomplishments, courage, and exemplary character, make 
him one of the victims of the revolution the most deeply 
to be regretted. 

The public life of the Pope is so entirely mingled with 
that of Antonelli, that it will be found detailed in a notice 
of the Cardinal. His private history is not, however, de- 
void of interest. 

The Mastai-Ferretti, the family to which he belongs, 
is an ancient one of Sinigallia, a town on the Adriatic, 
between Rimini and Ancona. His father was rich, pos- 
sessing an income of some five thousand dollars, which 
for a town where living is excessively cheap, is an enor- 
mous sum. The family of Mastai-Ferretti were much 
respected. The father of the Pope was an ardent Liberal. 
The Pope Giovanni Maria is the second son. His eldest 
brother married young and became the head of the family. 

The younger brother, according to the rule in noble 
families of Bomagna, was destined for the Church, but old 
Count Mastai-Ferretti was on principle opposed to mon- 
astic life, and therefore strove to educate his son for one 
of the liberal professsions. 

But Giovanni Maria had little taste for study, and ac- 
cordingly entered ""la Guardia Nohile' or the Pope's Guard. 
At Bome he fell in love with a beautiful girl, named Chiara 
Colonna, but being refused by her, he turned his thoughts 
towards the Church. He took orders, and distinguished 
himself for his apostolic virtues, his gentleness, and his 
unbounded charities. 

It has often been said the Italian movement began in 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 267 

the name of Pius IX., and then turned against him. The 
reason of this inconsistency arose from the fact of a mu- 
tual misunderstanding of the character of the Pope, and 
the requirements of the people. Pius IX. is a man of lim- 
ited capacity, of a nervous, irritable temperament, and is 
totally devoid of courage, both moral and physical. His 
very charity and benevolence arose from his aversion to 
witness suffering, rather than from innate goodness of 
heart. Besides, like all converts, Pius IX., in early life, 
was dissipated and irreligious. He is now a fanatic in 
religion. He believes in the special protection of the 
Holy Ghost, by whose intercession he believes himself to 
have been converted, and considers that he has been ap- 
pointed by a special Providence, to reestablish the Pope- 
dom in all the magnificence and brilliancy of the middle 
ages. 

Pio Nono besides the amnesty granted other reforms ; 
the organization of a National Guard, the public adminis- 
tration of justice, the freedom of the press, and a recon- 
struction of the Ministry. But neither the Pope nor his 
Minister Antonelli, had contemplated the extent to which 
the demands of the Democratic party would go. 

The Pope had designed by concessions to strengthen 
his power. The people had imagined that he intended to 
enfranchise them, and abandon his temporal power. The 
crisis which now arose in Rome, proves that Papacy and 
Democracy are incompatible : Democracy is the expression 
of the law which demands the " greatest good for the great- 
est number;" Papacy is the despotic rule of one man, not 
only Sovereign by divine right, like other temporal Sov- 



268 ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 

eigns, but the actual representative of God, by bim in- 
spired, and consequently infallible. Democracy is the 
power of the law ; Papacy eschews all law, as one of the 
conditions of its existence. 

As soon as the Pope became alarmed at the tremendous 
progress of Liberalism, confiding utterly in Antonelli, he 
attempted a retrograde movement. This was ill-timed, 
and the revolution of 1848 placed him in considerable 
danger. He thought it best to go with the current, and 
accordingly appeared to sanction the desire of ''' La Giio- 
vanne Italia' for the expulsion of the Austrians, and even 
went so far as to countenance the formation of an Italian 
legion, and appointed Father Gavazzi its Chaplain. He 
soon imagined he had gone too far, and recalled them be- 
fore they had time to meet the enemy. 

In order to conciliate all parties, the Pope now made 
choice of a Liberal minister, Pellegrino Rossi. His choice 
was peculiarly agreeable to the people, from the fact of 
Rossi's having been the principal cause of the expulsion 
of the Priests from Erance. Rossi had beeti exiled in 
1818 from Bologna, where he was Professor in the Uni- 
versity, chiefly, it is supposed, on account of his religious 
principles, for he was a Calvinist. Rossi went to Geneva, 
where he married the daughter of Guizot, and following 
his father-in-law to Paris, attached himself to his fortunes. 
In France he rose to the highest dignity, and was made a 
Peer. Louis Philippe afterwards employed him upon the 
difficult mission of inducing the Pope to assist him in the 
expulsion of the Jesuits ; a mission for which Rossi's supe- 
rior talents, insinuating manners, and profound knowledge 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 269 

of the intrigues of the Papal Court, peculiarly fitted him. 
The Pope (Gregory XVI.) besides being exceeding wroth 
• at the object of the embassy, was terribly shocked at the 
idea that the " Most Christian King" should send him a 
Calvinist Ambassador. Rossi, however, succeeded in his 
mission. Some say this success was owing to his great 
diplomatic talents, while others affirm that he effected his 
object by means of some choice wines he brought from 
France, which were administered to the Pope, through 
the medium of the favorite Gaetano. Rossi was the 
confirmed enemy of the Jesuits. He aided in their ban- 
ishment from Switzerland, and advised their expulsion 
from Rome by Pius IX. Besides this, Rossi, who by the 
fall of Louis Philippe had become a private citizen, had 
been elected a member of the Constitutional Council of 
Rome, and was committed to certain Liberal opinions. 

He devoted himself with earnestness and firmness to 
reforming the most enormous abuses of the Papal Admin- 
istration, besides which he laid a tax on the clergy, and 
little by little deprived the prelates of all the political of- 
fices they held. Pius IX. endured him for the sake of his 
own personal safety. Antonelli detested him, and there 
is little doubt his assassination was directed by the Cardi- 
nal, and executed by a member of the secret sect of the 
^'Sanfedesti." 

After the death of Rossi, Antonelli again came into 
power. The Pope then shut himself up in the Quirinal, 
refusing to receive any persons but Antonelli and the for- 
eign Ambassadors. The m3^sterious death of Rossi was 
supposed by the people to be the signal for the outbreak 



270 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 18b9. 

of the Sanfddesti, but the National Guards soon restored 
confidence. 

The next morning a deputation was sent to the Pope, 
with a message requesting him to appoint a new Ministry. 
The Pope refused, and the people expressed their dissatis- 
faction, upon which the Swiss Guards fired on the crowd. 
All subordination was now at an end, and the Pope, 
greatly alarmed for his own safety, agreed to (under pro- 
test, however), the organization of a new Cabinet. 

Considering himself now in extreme danger, the Pope 
meditated leaving Rome. The foreign Ambassadors all 
offered to secure his safe conduct into their respective 
countries, and fearing to irritate so powerful a country as 
Trance, by unwillingness to accept its ofi'ers of safety, 
he agreed to embark on board a French steamer, with 
M. d' Harcourt, at Civita Vecchia. 

In the meanwhile, not having special confidence in a 
nation which had just dethroned its King, he set about 
negotiating for his safety with the traditional Allies of the 
Popedom, Austria and Bavaria. 

The plans for his flight were laid and carried into effect 
by the wife of the Bavarian Minister, Count Spaur, a Ro- 
man lady of great beauty, and a secret political agent of the 
Court of Austria. She was devoted to the Pope, (with all 
due reverence, however,) for the exemplary conduct of His 
Holiness forbids even scandal itself to misinterpret her^ 
sentiments. She obtained passports for herself and Pius 
IX., under the names of Dr. Sumner Kann and hij 
wife, from Munich, whilst the Count travelled outside as 
their servant. In this guise they reached Gaeta, the first 






ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 271 

town on the Neapolitan frontier, and being there in safety, 
the Pope sent his compliments to the French Ambassa- 
dor, saying, that intending to come to Civita Yecchia, he 
had gone to Gaeta by mistake. 

After the flight of the Pope, a Republican Government 
was proclaimed, a Constituent Assembly elected, and a 
Constitution promulgated. One of the curious incidents 
connected with the Pope's exile, was the fact that he thun- 
dered a bull of excommunication from his retreat at the 
Government and people of Rome. The people in return 
met in solemn convocation, and deposed and excommuni- 
cated him. 

Cardinal Antonelli, the Pope's Premier, was born at 
Somnia, near Terracina, in 1806. Although his family is 
said to be a very ancient one, and to have numbered 
amongst its members many distinguished historians, states- 
men, and priests ; two or three of them were, at different 
periods, cJief-de-hrigands, or in plain English, highway- 
men romanticised by their picturesque costumes. 

His father was the nephew of the celebrated Gaspe- 
rone, a leader of brigands, as well known in the Roman 
States as Jack Shepherd and Dick Turpin in England, or 
the Harpers and Murrill in the United States. This 
robber, at the head of his band, was so powerful that not 
being able to conquer him by force, the Pope was com- 
pelled to treat with him. The circumstances which lead 
to this treaty have a curious political bearing. An Ital- 
ian writer relates the story in this wise : 

" The Austrian General, who had quelled the revolution 
of Naples some years before, crossed the Roman State 



272 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

wlien going witli a young daughter on a visit to the King 
of Naples. They fell into the hands of Gasperone, who, 
besides robbing them of everything, abused their persons 
in the most shameful manner, and then let them go, hard- 
ly covered with rags. 

" The Pope was informed of the painful occurrence by 
the King of Naples himself, and answered that he was very 
sorry indeed ; observing, however, that the event ought to 
be regarded as a special visitation of God, since the Gen- 
eral and his young daughter were obstinate Protestants. 
The Prince of Metternich, however, was but little pleased 
with that 'holy observation' of the ' very holy father,' 
and, in the name of his Emperor, sent a threatening note 
to the Papal Government, saying it was time to put a stop 
to such iniquities, the cause of which was to be found in 
the anarchy of the Papal Government, because nothing 
of the kind happened in other parts of Italy." 

The Pope's Ambassador succeeded in sowing discord 
among the brigands, and then concluded the affair with 
Gasperone and some of his most confidential friends, who 
agreed to lay down their arms and live honestly and quietly 
in some city, in consideration of a fair income, to be paid 
to them monthly, and a general absolution from all past 
crimes and sins. This being arranged, Gasperone and the 
other signers of the treaty surprised their companions, 
killed and beheaded them, receiving from the Prelate 
Governor of Anagni the sum of $200 for each head 
which they presented. 

Gasperone was still living in 1856, and free in Civita 
Yecchia; he behaved himself well, and often sat as a 
model assassin for artists. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 273 

Gasperone had but one sister. She married Joseph 
Antonelli, who was in partnership with the brigands, tra- 
ding upon the results of their depredations, and occasion- 
ally sheltering them in the woods in which he lived. On 
that account he was sent to the galleys for life, during 
the government of Napoleon, in the year 1813; but, as 
soon as the Papal restoration took place, two years after, 
it was represented to the Pope that Antonelli had been 
condemned only because he was a prominent member of 
the Society of Holy Faith, and an officer of the bands of 
iSanfedestiy commanded by Cardinal Rufo ; so that the 
Pope set him free, and then amply rewarded him. 

Cardinal Antonelli was educated for the priesthood in 
the great seminary of Rome. Here he attracted the no- 
tice of Gregory XYI., and was by him employed in several 
confidential capacities. In 1841, he became Secretary of 
State ; then, in quick succession. Treasurer of the Pope, 
and finally Minister of Finance in the place of Tosti. In 
1847, a short time after his election to the Popedom, Pius 
IX. gave him a Cardinal's hat. 

At that period Antonelli professed the same Liberal 
principles as the Pope. His blandness of manner, his 
ready wit, his great intelligence, inspired the Pope with a 
profound attachment, whilst his courage and decision of 
character inspired him with great confidence in his judg- 
ments. 

In 1847, Antonelli, being President of a commission to 
inquire into the reforms required by the people, presented 
several liberal and patriotic propositions, but they all were 

S 



274 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

rendered abortive by tlie weakness and inaptitude of the 
Ministry, and the members of the Sacred College. 

For some time Antonelli was very popular, especially 
when he was chosen to be the organ for the promulgation 
of the Constitution granted to the people in April, 1848 — 
which of course turned out to be a nullity, perhaps it might 
be termed a brilliant illusion. He, however, consented to 
the Italian Liberals turning out to combat the Austrians, but 
it was soon ascertained that he had merely given his con- 
sent in order to get rid of the most turbulent spirits of 
Rome. Meantime, the revolution was progressing. Anto- 
nelli found himself an object of popular contempt. The 
people had discovered his treachery. He, in turn, fell 
under the distrust of the Cardinals and priesthood gene- 
rally, who abhorred his professed Liberal principles ; and 
therefore, he thought it prudent to resign. Mamiani was 
appointed in his place. 

Mamiani was a man of extraordinary talent, possessed 
of sincere attachment to Liberal principles. Less mystic 
than Gioberti, he sought by his writings to sustain, in 
conjunction with Mazzini, the courage of his countrymen. 
In 1848, he returned to Rome after a long exile, and be- 
came one of the most prominent members of the moderate 
Italian party. 

After the promulgation of the Constitution, when Italy 
was on the eve of revolution, he succeeded Antonelli as 
Prime Minister — a most trying position, placed as he was 
between the cowardice of the Pope, the exactions of the 
Ultra-Liberals and the principles of the Moderate party, 
to which he belongs. His principal object was the inde- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 275 

pendence of Italy, by means of a league between Rome, 
Tuscany, Sardinia and Naples; but opposed constantly 
by the other Ministers, frustrated by the Pope, who hated 
him, continually irritated by the attacks of the Clergy, 
and distrusted by the Liberals, Mamiani was soon forced 
to retire. He, however, left traces of his intelligent min- 
istry, for the Roman States owe to him the introduction 
of the telegraph and the decimal system. When he retired 
from his ministry he went to Turin, where, in conjunction 
with Gioberti, he founded the Society of Italian Nation- 
ality. 

This society has been dissolved since the commencement 
of the present war. The President of the Association, 
Marquis Pallavicino Triulzio, dissolved it^ declaring " that 
the object of the Society was accomplished, and that the 
destinies of Italy were henceforth confided to the Govern- 
ment of 'il re gallantuomo,' 'the King of his word,' Victor 
Emanuel." 

He again returned to Rome after the death of Rossi, 
and again he found Rome in the greatest difficulties. The 
Pope had just fled to Gaeta. He strove in vain to induce 
the Cabinet to act independently of the 'Pope, whom, 
however, he desired to maintain as head of the Church, 
and not as head of the State. He was favorable to the 
intervention of the French, believing that it alone could 
preserve freedom and save Rome from the invasion of the 
Austrians and the power of the Cardinals. As soon as 
the French entered Rome he retired from office, to Genoa, 
where he has ever since resided. He will be deemed by 
posterity a man of great talents, an eloquent orator, a 



276 ITALY AND THE WAK OF 1859. 

fine poet, and the founder of a pHlosophy partaking of 
the dogmatic skepticism of Kant, and the mystic senti- 
mentalism of Gioberti. His prudence and moderation, 
useless at the time when Italy wanted men of decision and 
action, has entirely destroyed his popularity with the 
Liberal party of Italy. Mamiani is now fifty-seven years 
of age. 

But to return to Antonelli. Although he resigned his 
public position to Mamiani, he did not therefore cease 
to be the private friend and counsellor of the Pope, and 
the secret instigator of his actions. It was he who cor- 
responded in the name of Pius IX. with Charles Albert 
at a time when that Monarch exclaimed, " I am placed be- 
tween the poison of the Jesuits and the poignard of the 
Republicans." 

The Cardinal directed the choice of all officers and 
Ministers of State by the Pope. At his suggestion Pelle- 
grino Rossi was chosen to succeed Mamiani. After the 
flight of the Pope to Gaeta, he joined the latter and there 
protested in his own name and that of his Holiness against 
the new Government. 

The Cardmal also addressed a circular to the Courts of 
Austria, France, Naples and Spain, commanding them in 
the name of the Church to unite in the re establishment of 
Pius IX. to the chair of St. Peter. 

During the residence of the Papal Court at Gaeta, the 
Cardinal took especial pains to testify his sympathies for 
Austria, and his hatred for France, by treating M. d' Har- 
court, the French Ambassador, with marked coldness and 
hauteur. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 277 

After the capitulation of Rome lie advised tlie Pope to 
treat the French with great reserve, and noj; to be too 
hasty in reentering his capital under their auspices. To 
him are attributable the severe and repressive measures 
which distinguished the return of the Pope to power. 

In 1850, he received the appointment of Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, which he still retains. A short time ago, 
in this capacity, he notified Austria and France of the in- 
tention of his Holiness to remain neutral during the pre- 
sent war. 

The results of his administration have been disordered 
finances, the ruin of public credit, the decay of com- 
merce and of science, the impunity of crime and univer- 
sal discontent. The spirit of revolt is rife even in the 
Sacred College, the members of which dread the conse- 
quences of his extreme measures in public affairs and the 
consequent threatened interference of foreign Powers. He 
is known popularly by the soubriquet of "II Papa Rosso," 
"The Red Pope." 

In 1855, an attempt was made to assassinate him. He 
was wounded very slightly, tie owes his retention of 
power to the fact that he presides over the deliberations 
of the Sanfedesti. 

Shortly after the departure of the Pontiff from Rome 
in 1848, a distinguished Italian, destined to become the 
master spirit in directing and controlling the future 
of her revolution, appeared in Rome. This man was 
Guiseppi Mazzini. Born in Genoa in 1809, he was the 
son of a physician. His mother, a woman of uncommon 
talent and learning, devoted all her time and energies to 



278 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

his education. His parents designed him for the law but he 
turned his attention to politics. At an early age he be- 
came remarkable among the Genoese youth for his austere 
manners and precocious eloquence. 

His first essay in politics was the publication of a series 
of articles in the ^'Indicator' of Genoa, a journal estab- 
lished by himself. These attracted public attention to him. 
This journal was suppressed by the police. He renewed 
its publication at Leghorn with the same result. 

In 1830, Mazzini was arrested on the charge of belong- 
ing to the Society known as "The Carbonari," and ban- 
ished from Italy. He retired to Marseilles, where he 
founded the celebrated and world-renowned association 
called '* La Giovanne Italia," or Young Italy. The rallying 
cry of this Society was '^Dio e Poiyolo,'" "God and the 
People." Mazzini's intention was to establish the new 
freedom of Italy on the foundation of its ancient religion. 
One of the conditions of admission into the Order of "La 
Giovanne Italia" was that none of the members should ex- 
ceed the age of forty. In 1833, Mazzini, spite of the 
opposition of Princes and the distrust of the people, set 
on foot a military expedition against Piedmont, which was 
commanded by Ramorino. It proved unsuccessful, but with 
the determination and perseverance which distinguished him, 
he reorganized another army, giving its command to Gen- 
eral Ramorino. This time, in 1834, it was not only repulsed 
but completely destroyed and Mazzini for a time lost all 
his influence with the Italians. Ramorino served under 
Charles Albert in 1848, and was shot for his treachery and 
complicity with the Austrians. Mazzini retired to Switz- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 279 

erland, then went to Paris, and finally in 1842 settled in 
London. There he remained inactive and in comparative 
obscurity until 1844, when the fate of the brothers Ban- 
diera attracted public attention once more towards him. 

Attilio and Emilio Bandiera were the sons of a Vene- 
tian nobleman ; both were in the service of Austria. Fasci- 
nated by the doctrines of ^'La Giovanne Italia," and the 
reputation of Mazzini, they, together with a brother officer, 
Domenico Moro, deserted the 'Austrian navy and joined 
the Liberal party of Italians, urging to revolt the forty 
thousand Italians who had been forced into the army and 
navy of Austria. 

They established their head-quarters in Corfu, whence 
they corresponded with the malcontents and with Mazzini. 
Relying upon the boasted loyalty and good faith of 
England, they used no disguise. But like another far 
more illustrious personage, , the Emperor Napoleon, who 
confided as they did in England's honor, they were de- 
ceived. The infamous conduct of Sir James Graham, who, 
though belonging to the Cabinet acted as a spy for Aus- 
tria and Naples, and betrayed them by opening their let- 
ters, deserves the ineffable scorn of Christendom. They 
were by a treacherous strategem delivered over to their 
enemies and executed, together with their friend and asso- 
ciate Domenico Moro. They were fine young men, with 
noble hearts, enthusiastic and true. Attilio was thirty-six 
at the time of his death ; his last words were, " We shall 
be more useful to Italy in dying than in living." His 
wife died of a broken heart, as she left her all after taking 
an eternal leave of him. Emilio his brother was twenty- 



280 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

seven and Domenico Moro some years younger. Mazzini, 
although not a party to the Bandiera conspiracy, was made 
responsible for its failure, and has even been reproached 
with not having died with them. But Mazzini felt him- 
self reserved for greater things than romantic martyrdom. 

Whilst in London, in 1844, Mazzini founded a journal, 
called "i' Apostolo Fopolare,'' "The Apostle of the 
People," a paper which excited the suspicions of the Eng- 
lish Government, who seized his papers and accused him of 
complicity in the murder of two Italian spies in Paris. 
In 1847, Mazzini, deceived like the rest of the world con- 
cerning the intentions of the Pope, wrote to congratulate 
him on his Liberal principles. After the revolution of 
of Febuary, 1848, he repaired to Paris, where he presided 
over a club, and led a party of volunteers to the Hotel de 
Ville. 

After this he repaired to Milan, where he organized sev- 
eral revolutionary clubs and protested against the annexa- 
tion of Lombardy to Piedmont. His journal, entitled " The 
Italy of the People," caused a division in the Liberal 
party, which greatly contributed to the destruction of the 
newly-established independence of Lombardy. After the 
surrender of Milan, Mazzini enlisted for a short time un- 
der the banners of Garibaldi ; but more able at the pen 
than the sword, he speedily retired to Lugano, where he 
wrote a pamphlet by which he achieved great celebrity. 

He strove to demonstrate that the war of Kings had 
terminated and that the war of the people had com- 
menced. 

Being in Borne, Mazzini, in 1849, exhorted the new Be- 



ITALY AND TPIE WAH OF 1859. 281 

public to join with monarchical Piedmont. On the 23d of 
March of the same year, he was proclaimed Dictator of 
the Eternal City, and shared his power with Armellini 
and SaiS. Mazzini, amongst other decrees, insisted on all 
the religious ceremonials of Easter week (which occurred 
at this time) being performed. On the 17th of April, he 
promulgated the Constitution of the Republic. He now 
began to negotiate with the French Envoy e Extraordinaire, 
M. de Lesseps, through the French Minister resident, M, 
de Harcourt. Certain conditions were accepted by Lesseps, 
but their ratification was refused by General Oudinot and 
the French Government. 

After having held out as long as possible against the 
French, he was at length obliged to surrender ; and on 
the refusal of the Constituent Assembly to carry the war 
into the Provinces, he left Rome in disgust. 

Again Mazzini retired to Switzerland, where he esta- 
blished, in conjunction with other political exiles, a sort of 
model national government. This was probably intended 
as a rehearsal of the administrative play they intended to 
enact when they should get a territory to govern. Tiring 
soon of playing this patriotic role, Mazzini left Switzer- 
land and went to London, where he became president of 
the National Italian Committee, and in this capacity ad- 
dressed his celebrated letter to the Assemhlee Nationale in 
Paris, protesting against their proceedings. 

In conjunction with Kossuth and Ledru Rollin, (all three 
at the head of the International Revolutionary Committee,) 
he contracted, in 1851, the great Mazzini loan, intended 
to set on foot, and to carry into execution, another Italian 



282 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

insurrection. It broke out at Milan on the 6tli of Febru- 
ary, 1853, and terminated, as usual, in a victory of the 
Austrians. Mazzini, who in all his expeditions has rarely 
exposed himself to personal danger, contrived again to 
elude the vigilance of the Austrian police and to arrive 
once more safe in London, where he continued to mature 
other revolutionary plans. 

All at once, in July, 1857, he made his appearance at 
Genoa, with a plan of insurrection which was as speedily 
put down as it had been formed. Nor was the simultaneous 
attempt at exciting a revolt at Naples, made by his deputy, 
Colonel Pisacoue, more successful. Again frustrated in 
his plans, Mazzini returned to London just in time to find 
that he was implicated, with Ledru Rollin, in an attempt 
to assassinate the Emperor of France ; and being found 
guilty, by default, in the French courts, was condemned to 
perpetual exile from France by them. Since that time 
M. Mazzini has quietly resided in England. 

There are many opinions with regard to Mazzini, even 
among his own countrymen professing liberal sentiments. 
By some he is idolized and idealized as the " Prophet of 
the Idea." He certainly was the founder of "La Giovanne 
Italia," which has become the rally ing-word for freedom 
in the Peninsula. He is not a man of action, perhaps 
only a man of theories ; for he has not given proof of 
practical talent in any of his expeditions, nor has he dis- 
played any of that military genius which, in revolutionary 
times, is requisite to convert a patriot into a hero. Or it 
may be that the only thing wanting to make a hero of him 
has been what has always failed him, success. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 283 

Montanelli, Garibaldi, Manin and Guerazzi, all men of 
action, and men of great personal courage and extraordi- 
nary energy of character, have surnamed him " The Evil 
Genius of Italy." 

Mazzini, in the prime of his youth, has been thus de- 
scribed by one of his early friends and companions : 

"Mazzini had a finely-shaped head, the forehead spa- 
cious and prominent, and eyes black as jet, at times dart- 
ing lightning. His complexion was a pale olive ; and his 
features, remarkably striking altogether, were set, so to 
speak, in a profusion of flowing black hair, which he wore 
rather long. The expression of his countenance, grave 
and almost severe, was softened by a smile of great sweet- 
ness, mingled with a certain shrewdness, betraying a rich 
comic vein. He spoke well and fluently ; and, when he 
warmed upon a subject, there was a fascinating power in 
his eyes, his gestures, his voice, his whole bearing, that 
was quite irresistible. His life was one of retirement and 
study. The amusements common with young men of his 
age had no attraction for him. His library, his cigar, his 
coff^ee, some occasional walks, rarely in the daytime, and 
always in solitary places, more frequently in the evening 
and by moonlight, — such were his pleasures. His morals 
were irreproachable ; his conversation was always chaste. 
If any of the young companions he gathered round him 
occasionally indulged in some wanton jest or expression 
of double meaning, Mazzini, God bless him ! would put an 
immediate stop to it by some one word, which never failed 
of its effect. Such was the influence that the purity of 
his life and his incontestable superiority gave to him. 



284 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

^' He was well versed in history, and in tlie literature 
not only of his own but of foreign countries. Shakspeare, 
Bjron, Goethe, Schiller, were as familiar to him as Dante 
and Alfieri. 

" He wrote much and well, both in prose and verse. 
There is hardly a subject he has not attempted. Possessed 
of an indefatigably active mind, a passionate disciple of 
liberty, there breathed in his ardent soul an indomitable 
spirit of revolt against oppression of every sort. Kind and 
generous, he never refused advice or assistance. His 
amply-furnished library as well as his purse w^ere always 
at the command of his friends." 

Mazzini, it is evident, is true to his self-appointed com- 
mission — the liberation of Italy. He has not modified 
the ideas he entertained in 1848. Then, as now, he be- 
longed to the extreme right of the Liberal party, and bit- 
terly denounced the action of Piedmont. He has recently 
published a manifesto, in which he denounces France and 
Sardinia with all his former bitterness increased and in- 
tensified by time. He declares that " the plans of Louis 
Napoleon and Victor Emanuel do not point to the libera- 
tion of Italy ; they only seek the expulsion of the Aus- 
trians : Nice and Savoy are to go to France ; Lombardy 
to Sardinia — a monarchy is to be erected out of the Cen- 
tral States for Prince Napoleon ; Rome, with a small ad- 
jacent territory, is to remain under temporal pontifical 
rule, and a Murat is to reign in the South." 

His advice to the Italian patriots of the Centre and 
South of Italy is " to revolt, to establish Provisional Go- 
vernments, prepare and consolidate an army in order to be 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 285 

I 
ready to vindicate Italian independence and nationality in 

case Louis Napoleon and the Sardinian Monarch should 

seek to impose on them either royal or imperial rule." 

What effect this manifesto will have upon Italian poli- 
tics remains to be seen. It is evident, however, that Maz- 
zini has yet great influence in Italy ; a large portion of 
the Kepublicans look to him for advice ; they have been 
accustomed to follow his lead, and they believe him to be 
highly gifted wdth foresight and they know him to be dis- 
interested. Thirty years filled with sacrifices of wealth, 
comfort, and position ; thirty years of watchfulness, of ser- 
vices, and of exile, strike the imaginative minds of " La 
Giovanne Italien" with prodigious force and power. 

The same fatal result may follow the issue of this mani- 
festo which followed the promulgation of similar ideas in 
1848, a division of the Italian patriots into separate and 
distinct parties alike distrustful of each other ; neither 
having the power to overtlirow the common enemy because 
of their want of unity of purpose and action. One then, 
as now, seeks the regeneration of Italy through the House 
of Savoy and Constitutional Monarchy ; the other favors 
it by the establishment of a great Republic of confederated 
States. No sagacity merely human can tell what effect 
this conflict of ideas may have upon the future of Italy. 

Since the close of the Revolution, the Pope is more an 
object of pity than aught else. He is maintained in his 
position by a foreign Power which he himself distrusts, and 
for which he has no sympathy. His government, since 
his return, has entirely been confided to Antonelli, and 
has been a melancholy exhibition of priestly administra- 



286 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

tion in its worst features — those of rapacity and imbe- 
cility. 

There have been no expressions of popular opinion in 
the Papal States since the beginning of the war. The 
object of this analysis upon the Papal Government and its 
practices since its restoration in 1815, has been to show 
that all its influence will be brought to bear in favor of the 
Austrians, and that the Papal See considers its safety, 
nay, its very existence, to hang dependent on the main- 
tainance of the Austrian power in Italy, and on the pre- 
valence of despotic rule in the Catholic world. 
! It is evident that Louis Napoleon believes the Pope's 
sympathies are with Austria, for he has placed his Army 
of Occupation in the Roman States upon a war footing, 
and that, too, notwithstanding the fact that his Holiness 
has formally proclaimed his neutrality. 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

NAPLES — MONTANELLl'S DESCRIPTION OF IT — BOUNDARIES — POPULATION 

PHYSICAL FEATURES AGRICULTURE TRADE GOVERNMENT ARMY 

SICILY ETNA EARLY HISTORY OF SICILY CITY OF NAPLES ITS 

PUBLIC PLACES THE LAZZARONI THE KING'S PALACES SAN CARLOS 

HOW THE BOURBONS CAME TO THE THRONE DON CARLOS FERDINAND 

THE FIRST HIS QUEEN ACTON RUFFO THE KING'S VACILLATION AND 

TREACHERY FRANCIS I. CARETTO COCLE FERDINAND 11. POEBIO 

FRANCIS II. AND HIS QUEEN — GENERAL FILANGIERI. 

Naples has been, for some years past, an object of inter- 
est to the civilized world. That interest has not arisen 
from her rapid commercial advancement, or the progress 
which freedom and the .gentle arts of peace have made 
within her borders. It springs from a far different source. 
The cruelties inflicted by her Government, the brutality of 
her King to his subjects ; imprisonments with their long 
years of tears and sufferings, made known by every ave- 
nue of intelligence, to the remotest corners of earth, have 
signalized and " damned to everlasting fame " the history 
of her late Monarch and his rule. 

An Italian writer of great distinction thus symbolizes 
the condition of Naples in 1857 : 

"When the traveler, wandering amidst the ruins of 
Pompeii, reaches at length the summit of the amphitheatre 
of this exhumed city, how beautiful is the picture he be- 

287 



288 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

holds. Earth, ocean, and heaven reveal themselves in one 
eternal smile as delicious and radiant as the first bursting 
of dawn upon Eden. But beneath his feet are masses of 
ashes— ;- the type of desolation and death; and at a dis- 
tance the smoking craters of Vesuvius remind him that 
beneath these splendors, these sweet perfumes, this equi- 
site harmony of nature, lie concealed the most terrible 
elements of destruction. 

"A like contrast exists between the present social and 
political condition of Naples and the lovely skies, genial 
climate, and other physical glories with which heaven has 
endowed this Kingdom. 

" From the midst of the darkest ignorance flashes of 
genius gleam out. By the side of the enlightened philo- 
sophy of Bruno, Campanella and Yico, grovels supersti- 
tion w^atching the miracle of St. Genarius ; by the side of 
charity and patriotism are monsters like Canosa and del 
Carretto, the sublimity of Masaniello under the garb of a 
Lazzaroni." 

The Kingdom of Naples, otherwise " The Kingdom of 
the Two Sicilies," consists of two large Provinces or parts: 
Naples proper on the Continent and the Island of Sicily. 
Naples proper is bounded on the North by the Adriatic 
and the Papal States ; North- West by the Papal States ; 
West, South and South-East by the Mediterranean ; and 
North-East by the Adriatic. Its greatest length is from 
the North-West to the South-East, being 345 miles, and 
its greatest average breadth 95 miles. 

Naples is divided, for governmental purposes, into fifteen 
PfOartments or Provinces. These all contain an area of 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 289 

32,571 miles. The population of this Kingdom, mcluding 
Sicily, in 1851, was 9,117,050, being an increase of no 
less than 412,578 persons in the space of five years. 

The surface of the country is very much broken in the 
interior by the Apennine range, which, stretching from 
the Northern part of Italy, through the States of the 
Church, run down even to the Bay of Naples. Some of 
the peaks reach a height of near 10,000 feet: almost ri- 
valing the haughtiest of the Alps. The sea coast upon 
the Adriatic is low and marshy, and forms few inlets or 
bays deep enough for commercial purposes. The Mediter- 
ranean coast consists of a succession of lofty headlands 
and promontories. The line of these is broken into by 
the sea in many places, and thus a large number of fine 
harbors are formed. 

There is one most extensive and fertile plain within its 
boundaries, known as the plain of Apulia. It lies on the 
Adriatic side of the Peninsula and embraces large portions 
of the Provinces of Barri, Captanata and Otranto. 

The principal minerals are marble, sulphur, alum and 
saltpetre. 

There are a great many little rivers, but they run short 
distances. Being mere mountain torrents, they are not 
navigable. 

The sirocco makes Naples very unhealthy from July 
until September. The low, marshy fens which cover a 
part of its Eastern and South-Eastern territory send forth 
malarious exhalations of a most deleterious character. 
From these and other causes, Naples has sufi'ered fright- 
fully when those periodical epidemics, such as the plague 

T 



290 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

and cholera, invade its territory. The nations whose ter- 
ritories border upon the Mediterranean seem to have been 
subjected more than any other portion of the western 
world to these visitations. All the inhabitants of the ca- 
pital, or other cities of the Kingdom, who can afford the 
luxury of a country residence, retire during the hot months 
and the prevalence of these terrible diseases, into the hilly 
and mountainous ranges which lie in the rear of the ca- 
pital. 

The principal occupation of the people is husbandry, 
which is pursued in an antiquated and inefficient manner. 
All farming instruments are of the most incomplete and 
awkward character. There is no regular order observed 
in regard to the way in which the crops should succeed 
each other. According to a government survey, made in 
1850, there are about 20,000,000 of acres of land; of 
which 11,761,392 are now under cultivation, and 2,304,676 
in woods or forest ; the remainder, embracing six-tenths of 
the whole, is either incapable of, or is not under, cultiva- 
tion. The produce consists of melons, olives, rice, oil, 
wine, hemp, lint, cotton, maize, wheat, lemons, oranges, 
saffron and silk. The animal productions are sheep, goats, 
hogs, cattle and horses ; the cattle are not numerous, and 
the horses are small. In the Eastern marshes are found 
a species of buffalo. Their size is contemptible when com- 
pared with their cis-Atlantic cousins on the Western 
prairies. 

The manufactures of Naples have never possessed much 
vigor or energy. Hence they have never been extensively 
carried on. Such as they are, they are nearly all done by 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 291 

artisans at their own homes — few large establishments 
existing for manufacturing purpose's. Hence its commerce 
is very limited for so great a population as it possesses. 
The arrivals of vessels in the different sea ports in 1850 
were 22,264; of these, 3,271 were foreign, with an aggre- 
gate tonnage of 300,507 tons. The clearances of the same 
year numbered 22,156 ; the foreign vessels carried 307,669 
tons, these numbering 3,286. 

Statistics of a more recent date show a slow advance in 
her commerce. 

A recent authority has the following in regard to the 
general nature of her government and institutions : 

" The government of Naples is an hereditary monarchy, 
which, from the absence or inefficiency of constitutional 
checks, makes a very near approach to despotism. A no- 
minal parliament holds its sittings regularly at Naples, but 
its privileges are so restricted that all power, legislative 
as well as executive, virtually centres in the crown. Pre- 
vious to 1837, the two Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily had 
each a species of Provincial Council called Cojisulta, but 
these have been since united in the Oonsulta generate^ com- 
mon to both Kingdoms. Numerous courts ascending gra- 
dually to a supreme court of cassation, have been erected 
for the administration of justice, which they are said to 
dispense with considerable impartiality, when the questions 
to be decided are strictly private ; but when they happen 
to have a political bearing, the judges become mere tools of 
the court ; indeed it is beyond a doubt that, in regard to 
political liberty and political justice, no country of Europe 
Btands lower in the scale than Naples. The total number 



292 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of criminal offences in 1850, was 16,626. Of these, 4,016 
cases, involving 5,805 accused, were brought before the high 
court, when 1,792 were liberated, and 4,513 condemned. 
The number of accused in 1835, was 5,617, being larger in 
proportion to the population than in 1850. The Roman 
Catholic is the established religion, and is nominally pro- 
fessed by almost all the inhabitants. Convents and nun- 
neries are very numerous, and it is estimated that through- 
out the country, there is 1 monk for every 250 inhabitants. 
Education is entirely in the hands of the priests ; the gross- 
est ignorance and bigotry everywhere prevail, and all the 
thoroughfares swarm with mendicants. The revenue ob- 
tained partly by indirect taxes, but chiefly by an enormous 
land tax, amounting to a fourth of the rent, was estimated, 
in 1848, at $18,536,885. The army, raised partly by 
conscription, and partly by voluntary enlistment, numbered 
in 1851, 106,519 men. The navy in 1851 comprised 3 ships 
of the line, 2 of them having 80 guns each ; 5 frigates, 2 of 
50 guns each ; 1 of 48 and 2 of 46 each ; 2 corvettes, 
1 with 22 and the other with 14 guns; and 6 smaller 
vessels; besides these there are 12 steam-frigates and 12 
other steam vessels : total 40." 

The army upon a war footing, in which condition it now 
is, includes 143,586 men, and 8,897 horses. The navy at 
present numbers 121 vessels of all sizes, and they carry 
746 guns. Its national debt amounted to $77,280,000 in 
1858 ; it is probably more now. 

Sicily, the island part of the Kingdom, has an area of 
10,556 square miles, and a population which in 1850 
amounted to 2,041,583, and which was estimated in 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 293 

1858 by an eminent English statistician to have reached 
2,400,000. 

This Island in its general features resembles the interior 
of Naples. An opinion prevails, based, however, upon tra- 
dition, that there was once a junction between it and the 
Continent. So far as history goes, there is nothing to 
sustain this opinion. There are so many evidences of vol- 
canic agencies yet in existence in the vicinity, that there 
may have been a mighty convulsion at one time, which 
effected such a separation. Earthquakes of a most terrible 
and destructive character have repeatedly visited the island. 
Stromboli, Etna and Vesuvius are all active volcanoes. 
On all hands lie the evidences of the potent but secret 
forces of nature which are at work in this region. 

Sicily has been noted for the abundance of its produc- 
tions and consequently for the fertility of its soil, ever 
since history speaks of it. It was the granary of Rome 
for many ages after she conquered it from the Cartha- 
ginians. Its soil has not lost its productive power since. 
But a vast increase of productiveness could be imparted 
to it by modern agricultural improvements. The kind of 
government under which it groans, renders life stagnant 
and therefore effectually checks all disposition to progress. 

One of the most striking features of the island is its 
lofty mountainous ranges. The giant which towers above 
them all, in comparison with which all others sink into in- 
significance is Etna ; rising to a height of 11,000 feet, it 
seems to stand peerless and alone, defying time and waste. 
Travelers in all ages have visited it as one of the wonders 
of the world. At its wide spreading base is the richest 



294 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

cultivation, the most delicious productions, — upon its 
sides desolation, — and upon its peaks eternal snow and 
flame. 

Sicily abounds in the most delicious wines and fruits. 
The former have been celebrated in all ages. The old 
Roman poets, men of the most fastidiously cultivated phy- 
sical tastes, who had reduced living to a refined science, 
speak of them in terms of the most extravagant praise; 
their sweetest verses overflow with the most delicate eu- 
logies relative to its tone and flavor. 

Its wine was not alone celebrated by these poets, they 
paid their elegant compliments to the delicacy of its fish, 
which are renowned to this day. Thousands of the Sici- 
lians find active and vigorous employment in the fisheries. 

The history of Sicily is a curious and interesting one. 
During many centuries it was separate from that of Na- 
ples. When the Romans, rendered eff*eminate by the luxu- 
rious debaucheries of centuries, were no longer able to 
hold it, the Goths became its masters ; then the Saracen 
and again the German. The Angevin dynasty, were in 
turn its conquerors, and these gave way to a race of Ar- 
ragonese Princes. The Crowns of Arragon and Castile 
having been united in the persons of Ferdinand and Isabella, 
Sicily became an integral part of the great Spanish Em- 
pire. It continued under this dynasty until, in 1706, it 
was transferred to Austria. Remaining under her rule 
for some years, it was finally consolidated with Naples 
into the Kingdom of the two Sicilies, under Don Carlos 
in 1735, and has since owned the sway of the Spanish 
Bourbons. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 295 

Its people have made several ineffectual attempts to 
throw off this yoke, but have never succeeded. In 1812, 
they had a Constitution granted to them of a very liberal 
character. After enjoying its privileges for a brief period, 
its people from want of proper knowlege of its beneficial 
provisions or from unfitness to live under any other form 
of government, save a despotism, suffered it to fall into dis- 
use. They may now, however, be better fitted for such a 
form of Government. 

Naples proper, from the very earliest period has under- 
gone the strangest political mutations. One foreign con- 
queror after another has controlled her destinies. For 
century after century, no prince save one who could trace 
his origin from a foreign stock, has ruled over her. The 
conquest of her magnificent capital has nearly always 
been equivalent to the conquest of the whole country. 

The city of Naples is situated upon one of the finest 
bays in the world ; so spacious is it, that it has been said, 
that all the navies in the world could ride within it at 
anchor in perfect safety. The city itself is one of the 
largest in Europe, containing according to a census taken 
in 1850 over 400,000 people. 

The streets of Naples are narrow though regular, paved 
with large masses of lava, the most indestructible of all 
paving material that has yet been used. The principal 
streets are the Rue de Toledo and the Chiaja. The for- 
mer is full of life and people, displaying all the luxuries 
that wealth can purchase, in costly stuffs, jewels, books, 
plate, pictures, with magnificent buildings on either side, 
and a gay, motley, handsome, picturesque and dirty 



296 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

population, from the Signore in their open carriages 
to the Lazzaroni, eating monstrous water-melons on the 
marble steps of noble palaces. 

The Chiaja, which is the street where foreigners, espe- 
cially the English, "most do congregate," offers the most 
beautiful positions for residences, not only in Naples, 
but perhaps in the civilized world : for it faces the bay of 
Naples. The Villa Reale, a beautiful public garden of 
Naples is here ; presenting a delicious promenade, midst 
orange and citron trees, and every flower that temperate 
or tropica] climates produce. There is, too, a broad ter- 
race, built up on the very borders of the sea, whence the 
view, by moonlight, of the blue Mediterranean, studded 
with its islands, animated by its shipping, and its flitting 
skifi's with the red light of the fisherman, is magical. 

One of the curious relics of Naples is the house of Ma- 
saniello, which still exists in the market place. The 
Piazza del Mercato is the most favorable place for seeing 
the peculiar characteristics of Naples, for here the Lazza- 
rone are seen in all their glory. Gay, joyous, good-hu- 
mored, reckless of the future, possessing nothing in the 
world, without aim or ambition, the Lazzaroni remains 
and has remained Lazzaroni for centuries, in the midst of 
civilization and all its progress ; clad in the simplest gar- 
ment, which afi'ords but just the necessary covering, the 
street his home, the porticos of the churches and palaces 
his bed, no roof to shelter him but Heaven, he is the hap- 
piest of human beings ; laughing, dancing, singing, ac- 
cepting readily any work that ofiers ; (till he has earned 
enough for one day, after which he sleeps in the sun ;) his 



ITALY AND THE WAH OF 1859. 297 

children grow up Lazzaroni around Mm, and the sparkle 
of the bright black eyes, the insinuating, coaxing ways, 
contribute to the fortune of their parents ; for without 
begging, they obtain alms. 

The King has a fine palace in Naples, where he holds his 
State Court. It is near the sea, at one end of the Grand 
via di Toledo. The favorite residence of the royal fam- 
ily, that in which the King died, is at Carieta, a village in 
the interior, about ten miles north of Naples, and a little 
south of Capua. This most delicious residence was built 
on an elevation by Charles III., and from its various 
beauties deserves the preference which the Sovereigns of 
Naples have ever displayed for it. 

San Carlo is the largest theatre in Europe being, to- 
gether with La Scala, at Milan, the school for all the 
great lyric artists that have become renowned in their 
profession. 

When Philip V., grandson of Louis XIV., came to 
the throne of Spain, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies 
was an appendage of his crown. The Hapsburgs did 
not admit the validity of his claim. Hence the war 
of the Spanish succession. Several times during the 
stormy period which signalized the first thirty years of 
the eighteenth century, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies 
changed masters. The Austrian Archduke, Charles 
Philip's rival for the crown, invaded it in 1707, and was 
quietly recognized as its Sovereign. 

By the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, confirmed by that 
of Rastadt in the following year, Sicily passed into the 
hands of Victor Amadeus, then reigning Duke of Savoy. 



298 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

Naples remained in the hands of the House of Austria. 
These treaties were broken through four years afterwards 
bj Cardinal Alberoni. But Philip was compelled, in 1719, 
to sacrifice his ambitious Minister to the jealousy of the 
European Powers, and accede to the terms of the Quadru- 
ple Alliance. Sicily, in order to be reunited to Naples, 
was taken away from the Duke of Savoy, who received the 
island of Sardinia in exchange, and then, for the first 
time, assumed the title of King of Sardinia. 

The Neapolitans remained under the control of Aus- 
tria until the "War of the Polish Election" broke out, in 
1731. Don Carlos, eldest son of Philip V., by Elizabeth 
Farnese, invaded the. southern part of the Peninsula, with 
30,000 men. He overran and conquered both Provinces 
of the Kingdom without any serious opposition. 

In 1735, a general treaty was concluded at Vienna, by 
which all difficulties between the Emperor on the one side, 
and Spain and France on the other, were settled. By its 
provisions, Don Carlos was confirmed in the possession of 
his conquest. He continued to reign until 1759, when he 
was called to the throne of Spain. He is known in his- 
tory by the appellation of Charles of Bourbon. He 
reigned in Naples under the title of Charles VII., but 
when called to the Spanish crown, took the title of 
Charles III., just as James VI. of Scotland became 
James I. of England. 

The long and bloody contest which broke out in 1741, 
and which is known in history as the war of the Austrian 
succession, was terminated in 1748, by the treaty of Aix- 
la-Chapelle, a contest in. which Maria Therese had ga- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 299 

lantlj sustained herself against a multitude of enemies, 
and had preserved intact her imperial rights and dignities. 
By this treaty, Don Carlos was reconfirmed in the pos- 
session of his Neapolitan crown. A restriction was 
inserted in the treaty which forever prohibited the union 
of the crowns of Naples and Spain upon the head of 
one person. Spain was no longer an Italian power ; all 
pretexts for farther interference in the affairs of the 
Peninsula were thus taken away. 

The reign of Charles was distinguished for the cultiva- 
tion of the arts of peace. His capital was his great pride, 
and he spent large sums of money in its embellishment. 
In this he was perhaps controlled, to some extent, by 
the tastes and opinions of Tanucci, his Prime Minister, — 
a man of excellent education, virtuous intentions, and 
moderate talents. 

Charles married Marie-Amelie, a Saxon Princess. His 
eldest son was a hopeless idiot ; his second son succeeded 
him upon the throne of Spain ; and Ferdinand, his third 
son, took his place in the Kingdom of Naples. The ele- 
vation of Ferdinand was in direct contravention of the 
rights of succession, secured by the treaty of Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle to the Parmesan branch of the family. But Charles 
was suffered to place his son upon the Neapolitan throne, 
without disturbance. Ferdinand at the time of his acces- 
sion, was a boy eight years of age,' he having been born 
in 1751, at Naples, and his father ascending the Spanish 
throne in 1759. The education of this Prince was con- 
fided to Tanucci and the Prince of San Nicaudro, who 
allowed him to do much as he pleased, and utterly to 



300 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

neglect all those studies that could develop his intellect, 
and fit him for the position he occupied. Spending his 
time in hunting, billiards, tennis and other physical exer- 
cises, he left the whole management of public afi"airs to 
his Ministers. 

At nineteen he married Marie Caroline an Archduch- 
ess of Austria ; a marriage as unfortunate in its results 
for Naples as all alliances have been between Bourbon 
Kings and Austrian Princesses. Marie Caroline seized 
upon the reins of Government, establishing one of her 
favorites, Acton of infamous memory, in the post of Prime 
Minister. Ferdinand became a mere cypher. In 1794, he 
joined his fleet to those of Spain and Naples, and declared 
openly against France. Meantime public discontent 
obliged him to dismiss Acton, who, though he lost his posi- 
tion still retained his power over the Queen. After sign- 
ing a treaty of peace with the French, he openly violated 
it whilst Bonaparte was in Egypt. Placing General Mack 
at the head of twenty thousand Neapolitans, he assailed 
the dominions of the Pope, then occupied by the French, 
and Ferdinand himself at the head of a division of twelve 
thousand men entered Rome. His triumph was, however, 
of short duration. Mack, beaten by Championnet, fled to 
the French camp, whilst the cowardly King hastened to 
place himself under the protection of Nelson, abandon- 
ing his capital to the Lazzaroni. From the Admiral's 
ship, Ferdinand, with the assistance of Acton, suppressed 
ail the rights of the Neapolitan citizens, took away their 
constitution, and placed Naples at the mercy of Cardinal 
Rufi'o, who decimated its people with fire and sword. Hav- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 301 

ing accomplished these acts of tyranny, for which the 
Queen must bear the greater part of the odium, he retired 
to Palermo, and did not re-enter his Capital until 1800. 

Ferdinand, Caroline, and Acton then passed six years 
in alternately siding with England, France and Austria, 
whilst their subjects at home suffered every sort of oppres- 
sion. After the battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon sent thirty 
thousand men under the command of Massena to Naples, 
and in two months its conquest was effected, and Murat 
was placed on its throne. 

Ferdinand again fled to Sicily, then under the protection 
of the English. But even this refuge was lost to him 
by the conduct of the Queen, whose pride, deeply wounded 
by her dependence on England, led her to intrigue with 
the French. Ferdinand was forced to abandon the Go- 
vernment of Sicily to his son, the Duke of Calabria, until 
the year 1814, when Bentick, the English Admiral, quitted 
the Island. The next year (1815) reinstated Ferdinand 
in the Kingdom of Naples. He reascended the throne 
with the most liberal protestations. "The people," said 
Ferdinand, "shall be the true sovereigns; I, merely the 
agent to administer the laws, as may be best for their 
ultimate and permanent good." 

This, of course, was a mere vain promise. The King 
renewed his despotic policy through his Ministers and 
favorite. The Carbonari, which was a political society, 
originating in Calabria, intended to repel the French inva- 
sion, now turned its attention towards Austria, who had been 
induced by Ferdinand to assist in supporting his throne ; a 
society aiming at restoring, at once, political and national 



802 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

liberty. At the Congress of Verona, in 1822, the Great 
Powers decreed that, for the safety of the kingdom, the 
Austrians should continue to occupy and protect Naples. 
The police, headed by Canose, once an agent of the Queen, 
one of her secret spies, encouraged accusations, filled the 
prisons, and caused the levy of heavy taxes, until Naples 
fell into a state of abject degradation. Occasionally, under 
the inspiration of some member of "Xa Giovanne Italia^'' 
the people would rise, on which occasions Ferdinand would 
appear on his balcony, and promise not only one, but any 
number of constitutions, if they wished; in reality, the 
Government had relapsed, hopelessly, into the absolutism 
of 1799. 

After the death of Marie Caroline, whom he was fortu- 
nate enough to lose, Ferdinand married an amiable woman, 
the Dowager-Duchess of Patrana, whom he created Duchess 
of Floridia. 

Ferdinand was the father of Maria Amelia, the wife of 
Louis Philippe. Caroline of Naples, his first wife, was one 
of the three daughters of Maria Theresa of Austria, of 
whom it has been said, "the eldest, Marie Antoinette, 
destroyed the Monarchy of France, the second brought 
ruin on the house of Parma, whilst the last, Caroline, 
destroyed Naples." 

Ferdinand was succeeded by his son Francis L, 1824. 
This Prince was not sanguinary by nature. He was a 
strange mixture of ignorance, bigotry, and libertinism. 
The ingenious methods of torture and persecution practised 
by his Minister of Police, Viglia, amused him. He passed 
his life in prayer, in the observances of the forms of 



ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 303 

religion, and in beating his wife, who led a very dissolute 
life. All at once a cry for liberty was raised at Cilento, 
in 1827, then the services of Xavier del Carretto were called 
into requisition, and scaffold, fire, sword, and chains were 
used to compel the Neapolitans once more to submit. 
Francis I., as before remarked, was not a man of sangui- 
nary instincts, and his imagination was haunted in his last 
days by visions of the numerous victims sacrificed by his 
barbarous Ministers. On his death-bed, after an agony 
of many days, believing that he heard the cry of the mob 
for a Constitution, he extended his skeleton arms to his 
son, and exclaiming, in an imploring tone, " Give it to 
them, give it to them," and expired. 

Francis Xavier, Marquis del Carretto, comes of an ob- 
scure family, which originally emigrated from Piedmont 
to Sicily. He was brought up at the Polytechnic School 
of Naples, and entered the army in 1806. He served the 
Bourbons with a zeal and intelligence which was rewarded 
by a rapid promotion. Still he took an active part in the 
Revolution of 1820, being then Aid-de-camp to General 
Pepe. When, however, the Austrian bayonets had sub- 
dued the insurrection, Del Carretto adroitly declared he 
had only joined the patriotic party with the desire of push- 
ing it to such extreme measures as would compromise and 
destroy it. This lucky interpretation of his conduct en- 
sured him the favor of the Court. 

Francis I. gave him the command of the Gendarmerie, 
Invested with this power, he began to display his cruel 
and tyrannical character. Having gone to Salerno to sup- 
press a revolt, with six thousand men, he burned the village 



304 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of Bosco, and razed its castle to the ground, merely because 
it had been the residence of one of the chiefs of the insur- 
rection. He put to death also an old man of eighty, and 
nineteen other persons who had given themselves up, upon 
the express condition of free pardon. For this perform- 
ance, exactly suited to the spirit of the Court, he was 
made a Marquis, and to this day the people call him in 
memory of his barbarity, Marchese del Bosco. 

On the accession of Ferdinand II. (Bomba), he was ap- 
pointed Minister of Police, being considered the only man 
capable of repressing the continual insurrections which 
broke out in all parts of the kingdom. He was, for his 
ruthless cruelty, surnamed ''' Braccio e cuor diferro.'" In 
1837, being sent to Sicily during the raging of the cholera, 
Del Carretto left at Catane and Syracuse the most terrible 
traces of his tyranny. More than a hundred victims were . 
sacrificed ; he, himself, presiding in person over the execu- 
tions, and putting people to torture in order to make them 
reveal conspiracies more imaginary than real. Ferdinand 
relied on Carretto, finding in his cruelty and tyranny a 
substitute for the foreign troops, which, in other sove- 
reignties of Italy, kept the people in subordination. Del 
Carretto contrived to keep Monsignor Code, the King's 
Confessor, and a Jesuit Priest, on his side, and, together, 
these two ambitious and ruthless men governed the King, 
and through him the w4iole Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. 
To Code, Del Carretto confided the administration of the 
prisons, a most important appointment. The political 
prisoners amounted, during his administration, to over 
twenty-five thousand. How he executed the duties of his 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 305 

trust has been revealed by the efforts made by Mr. Glad- 
stone to obtain redress for these unhappy victims of savage 
despotism. 

Upon the accession of Pius IX. in 1846, when a reaction 
took place, all over Italy, in favor of freedom, the Mar- 
chese del Carretto violently opposed the spread of the 
liberal reforms which signalized that epoch. Finding they 
gained ground, and alarmed at the serious appearance of 
the outbreak in Calabria, the Minister disavowed the acts 
of the Grovernment, throwing all the responsibility on his 
colleagues and the Sovereign. 

Another outbreak at Palermo so much frightened the 
King, that, thinking to appease the people, he had Del 
Carretto arrested by General Filangieri. The Marchese 
had just time to save himself from popular fury by embark- 
ing on board a small steamer in the bay, in which he left 
Naples. The people of Genoa, Leghorn, and all the 
Italian ports, refused to allow him to land, and ingnomini- 
ously drove him from their shores. At length he reached 
Marseilles, and thence proceeding to Montpellier, lived 
in retirement until the King, feeling sufficiently safe, re- 
called him to Naples, took him into greater favor than 
ever, though he never dared to place him in the Cabinet 
again. 

Del Carretto is execrated by the people, and is an object 

of contempt and detestation to the Italian patriots. In 

person he is remarkably handsome ; his bearing at once 

courteous and noble, his insinuating and gentle manner, 

contributed much to procure him favor with Bomba ; whilst 

these advantages make it impossible to believe him capable 

u 



306 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of the barbarities he has perpetrated, did not his acts affirm 
it, and were not the misery and debasement of the Nea- 
politans terrible witnesses against him. 

Ferdinand II. succeeded his father in 1830. He had 
been married, in 1832, to Christine Marie, daughter of 
Victor Emanuel I., of Sardinia. He was but twenty years 
of age when he ascended the throne. Even at that early 
age he developed a strong passion for money, which led 
him to begin a curtailment of the public expenditures. 
His father's favorite Viglia, who had been in the habit of 
farming out all the public offices, was promptly dismissed. 
Ferdinand became his own broker, and thus saved to him- 
self all the commissions which his father's favorite had 
been in the habit of pocketing. 

From the very moment of his accession to the throne he 
gave the largest encouragement to the priests, the police, 
and the army. Despotic power was conferred upon Del 
Carretto, the Minister of Police. Code, the King's Con- 
fessor, a Jesuit priest, controlled all spiritual affairs. 
Filangieri directed, without interference, the operations of 
the army. This trio were devoted to Absolutism and Aus- 
tria. In the suppression of the various popular outbreaks 
which took place in the Neapolitan Kingdom in 1847 
-48-49, they committed unspeakable outrages and atro- 
cities. 

Before this, in 1837, whilst the cholera was decimating 
Syracuse, fifty-five supposed conspirators were shot by 
order of the King, even in the midst of death and desola- 
tion. During the same year, with the consent of the 
King, the Jesuits took charge of every department of 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 307 

public education. Thus were restored to full power the 
order which one of the wisest of his ancestors had expelled, 
nearly a century before, from Naples. 

His innovations upon popular rights did not stop here. 
The old Constitution of Sicily was abolished, and a tax 
put upon salt and tobacco. This last measure produced 
great public discontent. 

At the accession of Pius IX., there was a popular out- 
break at Messina, in Sicily, and Reggio, in Calabria. 
This revolt was immediately suppressed by the severe 
bombardment of these two cities. It was from the fond- 
ness that Ferdinand II. had for punishing revolted cities 
in this way that he received the soubriquet of Bomba ; by 
which he has been almost exclusively known for the last 
ten years. 

In January, 1848, ten thousand men marched upon 
Naples, and demanded a liberal government. He swore, 
and reswore, and even suggested refinements in his oaths, 
to observe the Constitution which this formidable demon- 
stration had forced him to grant. Poerio and other dis- 
tinguished men identified with the patriots, were called to 
his counsels. 

Charles Poerio was born in Naples in 1803. He is the 
son of an eminent lawyer who, having mingled in politics, 
was twice exiled. In 1843 he died. His son, who had 
accompanied him in his banishment, received under his 
auspices a solid and brilliant education, applied himself 
to the consideration of the political position of his country, 
mingling largely in the conspiracies set on foot by the Li- 
berals for the enfranchisement of Italy from the Bourbon 



808 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

race and foreign rule. Between 1837 and 1838, Poerio 
was often arrested. In 1848, when Ferdinand was forced 
to give his people a Constitution, Poerio was taken from a 
prison and made Minister of Police, and afterwards Min- 
ister of Public Instruction. Believing in the sincerity of 
the King, and the triumph of the revolution, Poerio ap- 
plied himself to the amelioration of things in the various 
departments of the State. After the fatal collision of the 
15th of May, which he sought by all means in his power 
to prevent, he left his seat in the new Parliament until its 
dissolution in 1849. 

Refusing to find safety in flight, he was arrested with 
forty other patriots, tried and condemned to twenty-four 
years hard labor. 

Loaded down with chains, dragged from prison to prison, 
he became the victim of unheard of brutalities and tor- 
tures. He was one of the victims whose sufferings Mr. 
Gladstone especially denounced; sufferings which Poerio 
bore with the heroism of a martyr. At length, in 1857, 
he was embarked, with other political offenders, on board 
a vessel bound for South America. Poerio effected his 
escape and reached England in safety. He is now in 
Sardinia, aiding by his talents and advice the efforts of 
Count Cavour to liberate Italy. 

When, after the battle of Costenza, the popular move- 
ment in Italy had been suppressed, Bomba abolished the 
Constitution — having received a special dispensation and 
absolution, for his royal perjury, from the Pope. By an 
infamous device he entrapped the people into the streets 
of Naples, he bombarded the city, and abandoned it to be 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 809 

pillaged at will by the Lazzaroni, and the people to be 
brutally murdered by these outcasts. No less than 1500 
citizens of Naples perished in this massacre. 

Filangieri was again sent to reduce Sicily to obedience, 
which he accomplished with the same ferocity as had 
marked his course the year before. Again, in 1849, he 
went through the same process of horror and decimation. 
Since Mr. Gladstone made those terrible revelations in 
1851, which drew so conspicuously the attention of the 
world to the multiplied, systematic cruelties of the King, 
he was a target for the contempt and hatred of all mankind. 
He led a life cursed with fears of assassination. By day 
and by night he had no rest. Marks of reproach, of con- 
tumely, of expressions of bitterness and sarcasm, unname- 
able oaths of denunciation and menace were uttered hourly 
against him by the oppressed millions of his subjects. 

The moral sense of the rulers of England and France 
was shocked so that they remonstrated strongly with him 
about his unmitigated barbarities and atrocities. The only 
revenge the spiteful, petty tyrant could take, was to break 
off diplomatic intercourse with these two great nations. 

But he is dead. He died amid torture and agony ; he 
died of a lingering disease for which science has no name ; 
he died amid the execrations of millions. 

In person he had all the characteristics of the Bourbon 
family. His face and person strongly resembled those of 
Louis XVI., if the portraits of the latter which are in 
existence be correct. 

In order to fulfil to the letter the destinies of the Bour- 
bons, he married an Austrian Princess, Maria Theresa Isa- 



810 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

bella, daughter of the Archduke Charles, brother of 
Francis I. ; a woman who, in disposition, pride, and am- 
bition resembles Caroline, the wife of Ferdinand I. She 
had great influence over the King, and is said to have es- 
sayed in every way to induce either the King or the people 
to set aside the only son of Ferdinand and his first wife, 
named Christine of Savoy, in order to place on the throne 
her own son, born in 1838. 

Francis II., however, has ascended the throne without 
opposition. It is scarcely possible to form a judgment as 
to what he will be. He has led a very secluded life, and 
been evidently kept at a distance from the Court, and es- 
pecially from the city. His education has been ill directed, 
probably not without intention. When an infant he was 
placed in the hands of the priests. He is very assiduous 
in the practices of devotion ; his bed is completely covered 
with amulets, rosaries and relics. Timid and shy, he knows 
no one and no one knows him. 

He has, nevertheless, many partisans, many who believe 
in his liberal sentiments as well as in his capacity. Some 
think that, like the patriot of Ancient Rome, he is feigning 
imbecility to lull suspicion, and that he will, at the proper 
time, turn out a Brutus. His young wife is the only per- 
son, except the priests, who has an influence over him, 
from the contrast rather than the similarity of their 
characters. She has obtained his affection. She is young, 
lively, and spirited, violently opposed to the Dowager- 
Queen, and evidently determined to have her own way. 
Her sympathies are all Austrian. 

It was supposed that upon the accession of the new 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 311 

King, the harsh features of Bomba's policy would, in some 
measure, be modified. But public expectation was doomed 
to disappointment, Cerretto, Filangieri, and all the old 
Ministry and crown officers are as yet retained. Nor has 
he changed the policy of his father toward England and 
France. The master spirit in the direction of his majesty's 
afi'airs is said to be General Filangieri 

Charles Filangieri was born in Naples, in 1785. His 
father was a man of celebrity and genius, who died, how- 
ever, when he was a boy, confiding Carlo and his brother 
to the care of their mother, a woman of remarkable in- 
telligence. The persecutions of 1799 obliged Charles and 
his brother to fly from their native city, and together they 
proceeded without any resources on foot to Paris. 

Here the name of their father introduced them to the 
notice of the first Consul, who, interested by their youth 
and misfortunes, admitted them into one of the military 
colleges of France. Charles Filangieri came out with the 
rank of Sub-Lieutenant, and was made Captain at the 
battle of Austerlitz. After this, the two countries of Na- 
ples and France being governed by the same ruler, Charles 
Filangieri entered into the service of Naples under Murat. 
This Sovereign sent him to Spain, Avhere Filangieri distin- 
guished himself for his valor and his numerous duels. In 
one of these he was so unfortunate as to kill his opponent, 
General Francheschini. During the campaign of 1815, 
being then Colonel of the Staff, he signalized himself by an 
act of daring bravery, whilst upon a reconnoissance at the 
Bridge of Tanaco. He was there seriously wounded by the 
Tyrolese sharp-shooters. He was for his share in this ac- 



312 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

tion promoted to the rank of General and decorated with 
the Order of the Two Sicilies, by Murat himself on the 
battle field. 

When the Constitution of 1820 was proclaimed, Filan- 
gieri sided with the Royalists, opposing the influence of 
General Pepe. Spite of this, however, he fell into dis- 
grace with the Court, and was not reinstated in favor until 
after the accession of Ferdinand II., w^hen the King con- 
ferred upon him several important offices. 

In 1848, having seen General Pepe preferred to him- 
self as Commander of the troops sent by Ferdinand to 
aid the Italian patriots, he crushed out all his sympathy for 
their cause, and devoted himself entirely to the interests 
of the King. Henceforth, a docile instrument of his 
tyranny, he obeyed his orders blindly. In 1848, he was 
Commander-in-chief of the Expedition against Sicily, when 
he bombarded Messina and took it after an obstinate resist- 
ance. After this he completed the subjection of Sicily 
and restored it to the sway of Bomba. He always main- 
tained a high place in the favor of the King. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE FRANCO-RUSSIAN ALLIANCE — MANIFESTO OP GORTSCHAKOFF — WIN- 
DISCHGRATZ— ENGLAND AND PRUSSIA — THE MINOR GERMAN POWERS. 

Soon after it became apparent that a conflict was inevi- 
table between France and Austria, it was suddenly an- 
nounced that the Czar had formed an offensive and defen- 
sive alliance with Napoleon relative to the present war. 
The London Times went so far in its statements concerning 
the text of the treaty as to point out the manner in which 
Alexander and Louis Napoleon were about to reconstruct 
the map of Europe. France was to get Savoy, and have 
her old boundary restored, Sardinia to annex Lombardy, 
ancj Russia to take the Moldo-Wallachian Provinces. Other 
nice little territorial arrangements were to be effected, 
which would be entirely satisfactory to the high contract- 
ing parties ! 

The simple announcement of the existence of an alliance 
of an unusual character, between these two great empires 
produced a great sensation throughout Europe. Stocks 
fell, the public bonds were lowered in price, and financial 
consternation existed on the Bourse and every commercial 
mart of Europe. In England alone, it is stated upon high 
authority, over one hundred mercantile firms, considered 

313 



814 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

sound up to that time, failed hopelessly. Even the official 
declaration of Mr. Disraeli that no treaty so extensive in 
its provisions existed, failed to reassure the people of Eng- 
land. Nor did the denial of the Moniteur, nor the decla- 
rations of Count Walewski to the same effect, at first 
satisfy and quiet the European mind. 

Gradually, as events transpired, a healthy reaction took 
place in the financial world ; alarm yielded to inquiry ; 
and facts hushed doubts. The exact extent to which the 
treaty obligations of Russia and France have gone is not 
known, with certainty, by any but the negotiators them- 
selves. So far as they have been disclosed they amount 
simply to this : — Russia agrees to place a heavy army 
upon the frontiers of Germany, ready to march at a mo- 
ment's notice into the heart of Germany, should the States 
of the Confederation intervene on behalf of Austria in the 
contest of the latter, in Italy, with France and Sardinia. 

This much is known to be certain — Gortschakoff, the 
Prime Minister of Russia, sent a circular to the Russian 
envoys at the various Courts of Germany, informing them 
of the position Alexander has assumed. But, then, the 
inquiry naturally arises what has caused this sudden and 
close friendship between two Emperors whose armies met 
but the other day in the lists of battle ? What equivalent 
is France to render to Russia for taking this attitude ? 
That there is some equivalent guaranteed cannot be 
doubted. Russia is the least disinterested of nations, and 
Alexander II. has too much sense to re-enact the part to- 
wards the present which his ancestor Paul did to the first 
Napoleon. What this equivalent is can only be surmised. 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 315 

The probability is that it is to be "indemnity for the 
past and security for the future" in the shape of a large 
slice of the Turkish territory. 

That the alliance is closely cemented may be fairly in- 
ferred from the fact that at a recent entertainment, given 
to the Russian Archduke Constantine, at Athens, toasts 
were drank to the Franco-Sardinian Army and to the 
Franco-Russian Alliance, and these were hailed with tre- 
mendous enthusiasm. The Prince is said to have been 
jDcculiarly gratified, both with the sentiments thus expressed 
and with the applause with which their utterance was met. 

Russia has so far fulfilled her part of the treaty, that 
she has concentrated large masses of men within a short 
distance of the German frontier ; and whenever the Ger- 
mans, who seem to be so wild with excitement against 
France, shall make the slightest demonstration of hostility, 
Russia will strike with all her power. 

This alliance, if continued and extended to other things, 
will essentially disturb that myth of European diplomacy 
and European wars, the Balance of Power. Russia and 
France, if cordially united, can repartition Europe, and 
blot out all geographical vestiges or traces now visible upon 
its map. There is not either the strength or force, if 
combined and cemented, to oppose successfully the designs 
of such allies. The world has never beheld such physical 
power as they can bring into the field. But such an alli- 
ance contains within itself, fortunately for the liberty of 
the world, the elements of natural dissolution. These 
empires have too many opposing interests for the entente 
cordiale to exist very long. The fact that such a union 



316 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

has been even temporarily accomplished is strong evidence 
of the rare sagacity and wonderful intellect of Louis Na- 
poleon. 

Austria has felt this, and has used all the means in her 
power to countervail and overcome its effects. She has 
sent the notorious Prince Windischgratz — one of her mili- 
tary butchers of 1848 — to St. Petersburg, to detach Russia 
from her connection with Erance. His mission has not yet 
been successful. 

It is evident, from recent events, that England and 
Prussia are drawing closer together. Doubtless their pur- 
pose is to put an end to the war as soon as possible. 
Whilst they openly profess neutrality, they are rapidly 
arming, in order to be able to interfere with energy and 
decision, should their interests render action imperative. 

The minor Powers of Germany, like Bavaria and Sax- 
ony, are anxious to become parties to the war against 
Erance but are deterred because Prussia has not taken the 
lead, and because Rrussia occupies so menacing a position. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

kARCH OF THE FRENCH ARMY TO PIEDMONT THEIR NUMBERS THEIR 

ROUTES ANECDOTES OF THE SOLDIERS DEPARTURE OF THE IMPERIAL 

GUARD FROM PARIS, AND RECEPTION IN PIEDMONT. 

The French troops crossed the Alps by two routes : that 
of Chamberry and Grenoble. Those who went from Paris 
proceeded to Lyons, and thence to St. Jean de Maurienne, 
in Savoy, by railroad. From the latter point they had to 
march through the Col of Mt. Cenis and descend to Susa, 
where the Victor Emanuel railroad begins. This road 
runs thence to Turin, a distance of twenty miles. The 
distance which that portion of the army which crossed Mt. 
Cenis by this route had to march is about fifty-six miles. 

Those who passed the Alps by the Grenoble road either 
crossed by the Romanche-Drac road, or by Gap and Em- 
brun. The former is more difficult and hilly than the 
latter, and therefore less practicable for troops of all 
kinds, but more especially for artillery. Both these roads 
terminate at Briangon. From thence they marched by 
the Mount Genevre road to Susa. 

Mont Cenis is the principal peak of the Cottian Alps. 

The pass of the Col attains a height of 6,880 feet. A little 

more than two-thirds the way up this pass is the celebrated 

monastery built by Charlemagne. To this Napoleon added 

a set of barracks, a church, a post of gendarmery, and a 
317 



318 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

crenulated wall. These all form a kind of intrenched 
camp. Ten thousand men could hold this position against 
almost any force which could attack them. 

There are a number of historical recollections connected 
w^ith this pass which deserve mention. In 1802, Napoleon 
stopped there on his way to Italy. Pope Pius YII., on 
his return from the Coronation of Napoleon, lay sick 
there for some time, and was only restored to health by 
the assiduous kindness of the monks. 

The first division of French troops began their march 
through this pass on the 24th of April. The weather was 
intensely cold, and the roads heavy, and in some places 
blocked with ice and snow, which had to be removed ere 
the troops could pass. But their vivacity and energy enabled 
them to overcome these obstacles. An official document, 
published on the 14th of May, announced the fact, '' that up 
to that time not less than 60,550 troops had passed: of 
these, 20 regiments of the line numbered 48,000 men, 5 
battalions of riflemen 4000, 12 batteries of artillery 2400, 
2160 horses, and 72 guns ; 27 squadrons of cavalry, 4050 
men, and as many horses, 4 companies of commissariat, 
600 men, and various other minor branches of the service, 
making up the sum total." 

The report announces that 20,000 more men were to 
enter Italy by that route. 

General Bruat had the vanguard in this march. He 
was exhausted by the intense labor necessary to climb these 
heights, and without any regard to the laws of vitality, 
when he reached the top of the pass, he gulped down 
glass after glass of snow water. He fell as if he had been 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 319 

shot. His troops carried him forward to Susa, where he 
died. He was about fortj-five years of age. He was a 
hrave man, full of activity and energy, who had seen a 
good deal of hard service. He was not highly gifted with 
intellect. General Trochu succeeded him in command. 

Subseciuently, Greneral Vinoy led a division by this 
route, into Piedmont. His artillery, numbering many 
pieces, accomplished the trip in nine hours. 

Another authority states, that, up to the 10th of May, 
20,000 men had passed through Grenoble, and would enter 
Savoy by this route. 

Several anecdotes are told illustrative of the careless 
gayety and wit of the French soldiery. A private of the 
63d regiment of the line — a regiment which was among 
the first to pass Mt. Cenis — who had toiled up its sides 
carrying an enormous pack, remarked : 

" That if le hon Dieu had climbed Mt. Cenis with a pack 
on his back, before he made the mountains, he would not 
have made them so high." 

A trooper in the streets of Lyons had lost his way, and 
wanted to be shown to the station de Vienne. He was 
about to take the road leading to Vienne, a town in Dau- 
phiny, when told that this road would not take him to Mt. 
Cenis, he declared, " that he wanted to go to Vienna in 
Austria, hy the roadwhicJi led past Marengo.'' 

An eye witness thus describes the departure, from Paris, 
of a part of the Imperial Guard, which has so highly dis- 
tinguished itself at the recent battle of Magenta : 

" Several regiments of the Imperial Guard left yesterday, 
and as each regiment stopped at the Tuilleries to receive 



320 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

its flag, (all the flags of the Guard are kept at the Palace 
when the regiments are not on duty,) the Emperor, Em- 
press, and Imperial Prince, came out to salute them. The 
Emperor shook hands with the Colonels, bade them God 
speed, and assured them that he would soon join them on 
the plains of Italy. A touching incident occurred on 
Saturday as one of the regiments of the Guard approached 
the Tuileries. The cantinier of this regiment, on coming 
up opposite the Palace, at the bureau of the oflicers of 
their Majesties, inquired if it was not there that the 
Secretary of her Majesty the Empress was to be found. On 
receiving an affirmative reply, she stepped out of the ranks, 
leading by the hand a little girl of six or eight years of 
age, and entering the bureau, exclaimed, ' Gentlemen, I 
leave you my child ! Conduct her to the Empress, I know 
she will take good care of her till I return from Austria!* 
Thus the mother left her child, happy in the thought that 
she would be well taken care of during her absence. She 
was not mistaken, for as soon as her Majesty was informed 
of the circumstance, she sent for the child, and at once gave 
orders that she should be well taken care of till her mother 
comes back from the war." 

The French troops were enthusiastically received every- 
where as they advanced into Piedmont. The people of 
Sardinia appeared to regard them as liberators. They 
everywhere fraternized with them, and paid them the 
highest marks of esteem. At Turin, Genoa, and Ales- 
sandria, their reception was particularly warm and grati- 
fying. 

The following description of the entrance of the Van- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 321 

guard into Turin, will give an idea of the hearty earnest- 
ness of their welcome : 

" I have just returned from witnessing the entrance 
of the first installment, the Nineteenth battalion of the 
Chasseurs de Vincennes. The National Guards were un- 
der arms at six this morning to receive them. It was 
past eight before they arrived, and at a little before nine 
they marched down the Via Santa Teresa, which leads 
direct from the railway terminus into the heart of the 
city. The reception they met was enthusiastic. The 
windows were thronged, chiefly by women, and flowers 
rained upon them. Most of the French had a small bou- 
quet or a flower stuck in the muzzle of their rifles. From 
all sides the population thronged to see them pass. They 
were greeted as they moved onward by a running fire of 
cheers and clapping of hands." 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

napoleon's DEPARTUEE fob. ITALY — GREETINGS OF THE PEOPLE — RECEP- 
TION AT MARSEILLES GENOA ENTHUSIASM OF THE PIEDMONTESE — • 

LADIES OF GENOA AND THE EMPRESS SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE IN PARIS 

THE MARSEILLAISE IN ITALY THE LATE BATTLES BEURET CIAL- 

DINI — ESPINASSE — CONCLUSION. 

Napoleon left Paris on the 10th of May. A little after 
five the Guards assembled in the court-yard of the Tuile- 
ries, which is separated from the Place du Carousel only 
by a railing. 

In a few minutes, the officers of the household appeared 
at the foot of the vestibule, and signed to the Emperor's 
carriage to approach. Immediately afterwards the Em- 
peror appeared, with the Empress leaning on his arm, and 
followed by several ladies and gentlemen of the Court. 
Scarcely had he appeared before shouts of " Vive I'Em- 
pereur," rent the air from the crowd without. After 
bowing, and waving his hat, the Emperor once more 
turned towards the group, which had followed the Em- 
press and himself out of the palace, and bidding them 
adieu, shook hands with several of the ladies. 

Then having handed the Empress into the carriage, he 
got in beside her, followed by General Reille. The Impe- 
rial cortege drove out of the palace, and passed under the 
triumphal arch. 
322 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 328 

The Emperor was in a simple travelling dress, with a 
close cap, which permitted his face to be seen. He was 
calm and smiling, but the red and swollen eyes of the 
Empress, revealed the tears she had shed. As they pro- 
ceeded she frequently wiped away her tears, and almost 
constantly kept her hand within that of the Emperor. — 
The Guards followed the carriage, but did not surround it, 
so that the people could freely approach the Sovereign, 
and many, as the carriage went along, came up and spoke 
to him. 

Along the Rue de Rivoli the crowd was intense, the 
windows of all the houses, even the very roofs, were filled 
with spectators, whilst from all went up shouts of " Vive 
V Empereur!^' " Victoire," — good luck ! Dieu vous garde! 
The streets were all hung with flags, and wreaths of 
flowers. At the Place de la Bastile, the ouvriers, in 
their enthusiasm, began, to take the horses from the 
carriage, but the Emperor, with difficulty suppressing his 
emotion, got up in the carriage and addressed the multi- 
tude: ^'My friends," said he, "do not delay me, time is 
precious." The crowd desisted amidst deafening cries of 
''Viva!" The turbulent ouvriers of the Faubourg St. An- 
toine pressed forward towards the carriage, and the Em- 
peror extending both hands, grasped all hands that were 
extended to him. One of the crowd addressing the Em- 
peror, exclaimed: "You have victory in your eyes." — 
Another, " If you want more soldiers, don't forget us." 
whilst a woman, noticing the tears streaming down the 
Empress' cheeks, exclaimed : " Don't cry, he will soon be 
back." A sturdy looking man, too, leaning his head into 



324 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

the carriage, said to the Empress : " Don't cry, don't cry, 
we will take care of you and le gamin, (the boy)." At the 
station of the Lyons railway, were already awaiting their 
Majesties, Marshal Magnan, Commander-in-Chief of the 
army, in Paris; M. de Lavestine, Commander of the 
National Guards ; Marshal Vaillant ; Generals Roguet, 
Montebello, Floury, Cotte, de Pailly, the Prince de la 
Moskowa, and all the Emperor's Staff, including Messrs. 
Larrey and Conneau, (surgeons,) the latter accompanied 
by his only son, a boy twelve years old. 

The Cabinet Ministers were also in attendance. 

Prince Jerome was most cordially greeted by his 
nephew. Prince Napoleon w^as there with the Princess 
Clotilde, who looked pale but calm, and probably envied 
her husband and cousin, who were about to start for her 
native country. Here also were in waiting, the Princess 
Mathilde, Prince and Princess Murat, and the Duchess of 
Hamilton, cousin of the Emperor, a Princess of Baden. 

It was a touching scene, the waiting room crowded with 
mothers, wives, sisters, and friends, tears and sobs making 
their way spite of the Imperial example, spite of court 
etiquette. The Emperor's first salutation was for his uncle 
Jerome, with whom he conversed confidentially for several 
minutes. 

At length the moment of departure arrived, the Em- 
peror once again embraced the Empress, bid adieu to his 
uncle, and entered the car amidst the deafening shouts of 
enthusiasm. All was ready. M. Pattenotte, the Cliief 
Director of the train, went up to the step of the Imperial 
car, and asked if he might give the signal to depart. — 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 325 

The Emperor answered in the affirmative. ^' Now sire," 
said M. Pattenotte, " I take mj leave with prayers for 
Your Majesty's safety, and with the ardent wish that I 
may soon be called on to give the signal to stop, to the 
car that brings your Majesty back triumphant to the 
Capital." And so amidst the shouts of the multitude, 
which echoed far along the road, the car bearing the for- 
tunes of France left the Capital. 

At half-past eleven at night, the Emperor arrived at 
Marseilles, having been greeted throughout the day, at 
every station, with the greatest enthusiasm by crowds 
awaiting his coming. At Marseilles he embarked on board 
the yacht "La Reine Hortense" which was awaiting him, 
and escorted by the "Vauban," a frigate of war, sailed 
for Genoa. 

The Emperor had been greeted at Marseilles in the 
most loyal and affectionate manner, the ships as he passed 
out of port saluted him with their guns, whilst the rigging 
of every vessel was manned with sailors. 

The Emperor arrived at Genoa on the 12th of May at two 
o'clock. It was a general holiday ; every lady was dress- 
ed in her best, and the houses were decorated magnificently ; 
flags waved from all the windows, and across from one 
house to another were strings with banners so close together 
that you could not see the sky in some streets. All the 
windows were hung with rich draperies, and in some cases 
with fine pieces of tapestry ; and down the Via Carlo Fe- 
lice were posts decorated with olive-branches and wreaths 
of gold-oak, to be lighted up at night. Eleven being the 
time the Emperor was expected, all eyes were upon the 



326 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

horizon, and every speck that appeared was eagerly scruti- 
nized. About one o'clock three little dots appeared: simul- 
taneously hundreds of opera-glasses were directed to them. 
A report from the gun at the Light-house Battery Avas the 
signal that the yacht was in sight, and hundred of voices 
shouted out " L'Empereur ! " The three little dots quickly 
assumed the shape of two war-frigates and a yacht, and 
in half an hour they entered the harbor. Boat-loads are 
rowing out to meet the yacht ; every craft in the place was 
dressed out in all its colors, from the huge man-of-war, 
with its grinning rows of guns, down to the busy, little 
picturesque felucca-built fishing-boat. The small boats 
formed themselves into two compact roAVS, showing the 
route the Emperor would take ; and hundreds of faces 
were turned to the entrance of the port, all anxious to get 
a look at the man who, with their beloved King, was to 
save Italy. Another report from the gun informed the 
people that the Imperial yacht had entered the harbor ; 
and, from that time until his Majesty landed at the 
arsenal stairs, peal after peal of cannon shook the air and 
echoed amoung the hills. The day had been dull ; but as 
the yacht entered the port the sun burst out gloriously — 
a circumstance which many people have considered an 
omen of success. The Emperor entered a state barge, 
and from that moment the applause was tremendous. The 
Genoese don't shout so much as they clap their hands, 
which, to one unaccustomed to that way of demonstrating 
the feelings in the street, is very strange. His Majesty's 
barge was rowed slowly through the densely crowded har- 
bor, amidst vehement cries and applause. Almost every 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 327 

lady had flowers ; some bouquets splendidly made of red, 
white and blue flowers with which the path of the barge was 
covered from its leaving the yacht until it reached the 
arsenal. At some parts of the route the oars must have 
dipped a foot deep in flowers ; indeed there was little water 
to be seen, what with boats, flowers and flags. 

The Emperor was in a military uniform and expressed 
by signs how grateful he was and how deeply he felt their 
kind reception. 

The Emperor landed at the arsenal and proceeded to 
the Palace amid the most enthusiastic cheers and applause. 
Showers upon showers of bouquets and flowers were thrown 
in his path, and hundreds of flags — tricolor French, and 
tricolor Italian — decorated the streets. Every window 
was one mass of animated faces ; everywhere that a man 
or boy could climb was occupied. One statue in a church 
portico, opposite the Palazzo Reale, had no less than five 
boys resting on its arms, head, and flying drapery. The 
balconies were bending nearly to breaking with their over- 
whelming burdens, and the streets were full from wall to 
wall, in the route of the Imperial cortege. 

The distance between the Arsenal and the Palazzo Reale 
is very short, so that thousands who had flocked from all 
parts of the town, and even from distances in the country, 
to see the Emperor, were disappointed, at least for the pres- 
ent. The streets for hours after his Majesty had been 
safely housed, were filled by a dense throng, eager to catch 
a glimpse of the great stranger, and kept up an incessant 
roar of "Viva la France!" and clapping of hands for 
hours together. At last his Majesty put his head out of 



328 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

the top window. From a motionless but extremely noisy 
crowd they were changed instantaneouly to a mad multi- 
tude, most of whom appeared to have but two objects in 
view — one to break a blood-vessel, the other to throw 
away their hats. His Majesty bowed several times and 
withdrew, then there was a calm ; and that crowd dispersed 
only to make way for another as noisy and outrageous as 
the first. The Emperor appeared again, five or six times, 
to the great satisfaction of the crowds. 

When the Emperor quitted the steamer he was received 
by the Prince de Carignan, M. de Cavour, M. de Brem, 
and the Count Nigra. After the Emperor, followed Prince 
Napoleon, Marshal Vaillant, and the Emperor's Aids-de 
camp. Then commenced a scene impossible to describe. 
The Imperial barge traversed the port in its entire length 
amid a street of boats, from which a shower of flowers 
was cast into the Emperor's pinnace. The Emperor on 
landing was received by the religious, military, and judicial 
authorities of Genoa, and proceeded to the Palais Royal. 
There he appeared on the balcony facing the street, and 
bis presence called forth immense cheering. At night 
there was a general illumination, not a window in the town 
being without a candle. The terraces, rising one above 
the other, formed stages of fire, which, agitated by the 
sea breeze, produced an effect similar to that of a town 
burning. The appearance of the port was even still more 
surprising. All the ships and quays formed an immense 
girandole, easting a red light on the sea. Nobody could 
form an idea of the effect without seeing it. When the 
Emperor presented himself at the theatre a still more 



ITALY AND THE WAE OF 1859. 329 

wonderful ovation awaited him. For more than five min- 
utes he was forced to remain standing while three thousand 
of the most select society of Genoa cheered and waved 
handkerchiefs. The Emperor, visibly affected, accepted 
these demonstrations with his usual quiet dignity." 

During his stay at Genoa the Emperor occupied in the 
Doria Palace the same apartments used by Napoleon when 
First Consul; and which the great Napoleon, with the 
historical superstition which distinguished him, chose, be- 
cause they had been inhabited by the Emperor Charles V. 

The Emperor has taken with him to Italy a tent which 
is a model of neatness and ingenuity. It is composed of 
two masts, which support a covering of blue and white 
drilling. It is eighteen feet high. On the summit are two 
small flags, one of France and the other of the national 
colors of Italy. In the interior it is divided into three 
compartments, a reception room, a bed chamber and a 
dressing room. The divisions are all formed by curtains, 
but contain apertures for light and ventilation. The 
whole structure can be put up and taken down in three 
minutes. The furniture consists of the iron tent bed used 
by Napoleon during all his campaigns. Louis Napoleon 
has also many toilet articles once belonging to his uncle. 
The furniture of the Imperial tent is of the simplest kind. 
The whole paraphernalia can be easily carried by two men. 

The day that the Emperor entered Genoa amid showers 
of flowers, the Marquise de Villamarina, (the wife of the 
Sardinian Minister at Paris,) presented the Empress 
Eugenie with an enormous bouquet, which had arrived in 
a perfect state of preservation from Genoa. It was 



330 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

accompanied by an address signed bj the first ladies of 
the city. 

" The ladies of Genoa entreat your Majesty, who so 
nobly partakes in the magnanimous feelings of the Em- 
peror, to accept these flowers, which they would have 
strewed on your path had you accompanied your august 
husband on his entrance into Genoa. May these flowers 
be the symbols of the immortal wreaths of victory which 
history will twine round the brow of Napoleon III., and 
bequeath to his son as the most precious ornaments of the 
Imperial Diadem." 

(Dated) Genoa, the happy day on which Napoleon III. 
trod the soil of Italy. 

During his absence, Napoleon left the Empress Eugenie 
Regent of the Kingdom. 

" Napoleon, 

^' By the grace of God and the national will. Emperor 
of the French, 

'' To all present and to come, greeting : 

" Wishing to give to our well-beloved wife, the Empress, 
marks of the great confidence we repose in her, 

''And seeing that we intend to take the head of the 
Army of Italy, we have resolved to confer, as we do confer 
by these presents, on our well-beloved wife, the Empress, 
the title of Regent, that she may exercise its functions 
during our absence, in conformity with our instructions 
and orders, such as we shall have made known in the 
general order of the service that we shall have established, 
and which will be copied into the book of State. 

" It is our desire that our uncle Prince Jerome, the Presi- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 331 

dents of the great bodies of the State, the members of the 
Privy Council, and our Ministers, be made acquainted with 
our orders and instructions, and that in no case shall the 
Empress be free to depart from their tenor in exercising 
the functions of the Regent. 

'' We desire that the Empress shall preside in our name 
over the Privy Council and the Council of Ministers. Never- 
theless, it is not our intention that the Empress Regent 
shall be able to authorize, by her signature, the promulga- 
tion of any senatus consultum, nor of any State law, save 
those which are now pending before the Senate, the Legis- 
lative Corps, and the Council of State, and we refer in this 
respect to the contents of those orders and instructions 
that are mentioned above. 

" We command our Minister of State to communicate 
the present letters patent to the Senate, who will cause 
them to be copied into the register, and to our Keeper of 
the Seals, the Minister of Justice, who will cause them to 
be published in the Bulletin Des Lois. 

" Given at the Palace of the Tuilleries, May 3, 1859. 

" Napoleon. 

" By the Emperor's command, the Minister of State, 

^'ACHILLE FOULD." 

Another decree confers on Prince Jerome the right of 
presiding, in the absence of the Empress Regent, at the 
Privy Council, and the Council of Ministers. 

Since the departure of the Emperor, the decrees and 
all State papers have been submitted by the Ministers to 



332 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

the Empress, who appends to them her signature, in these 
terms : 

"For the Emperor, 
And in virtue of the power by him conferred, 

EUGEXIE." 

The Acts of the Government are all headed — 
" Eugenie, Empress of the French, Regent of the Em- 
pire, hy delegation from Eis Lnperial Majesty, iSapoleon 

iiir 

Paris, since the departui'e of the Emperor, has been very 
tranquil. There are more foreicruers than usual, owino-, 
perhaps, to the state of Italy, which prevents the possi- 
bility of amateur traveling being agreeable in that countrT. 
The Empress, whenever she shows herself in public, is 
greeted with the warmest testimonies of affection. 

As usual in Paris, the lower orders, who have an intense 
sympathy with war, and " la gloire Francaise,'' take the 
most animated interest in the campaign, by discussion and 
expression of opinions. Groups of workmen may be seen 
on the Boulevards, every evening, in the direction of the 
Bdstile, in which, the last telegraphic despatch in hand, 
some favorite orator explains the strategic plans of the 
Generals with a piece of chalk, and marks out on the pave- 
ment the positions of the contending armies. At the In« 
valides, the old disabled soldiers, ftw in number, who re- 
member the first campaigns of the first Emperor, have 
become once again heroes, and are listened to deferentially 
by groups, who, cap in hand, look on them as sacred relics 
of T Empereur, 

The students perambulate the streets at night, fraUmiz- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 333 

ing with the ouvriers, and smging the patriotic airs of 
France. 

The favorite of these chaunts is the celebrated " Mourir 
pour laPatrie," which Dumas has claimed as his own, and 
introduced into the " Chevalier de Maison rouge,'' and 
which became almost a rallying-cry at the Revolution of 
1848. The words, however, were written by Marshal 
Brune, when General of Brigade, — the original copy, in 
the Marshal's hand, written in pencil, with innumerable 
corrections, having been sent by his surviving relations to 
the war office. 

There is also a favorite air by Auguste Barbier, greatly 
in favor, called " La Piemontaise." 

In Italy, the Italians welcome the French soldiers with 
the "Marseillaise;" but it is so embellished, in its rough 
warrior spirit so utterly misunderstood, and converted 
into gentilezza^ that the French soldiers have great trouble 
in recognizing it. 

The Emperor's band, however, always salute him with 
" Partant pour la Syrie," which, though it has nothing 
martial in it, is national at the present moment, not only 
by Imperial decree, as having been composed by his 
mother, but because it is associated with the first campaigns 
of the Empire, when it was as popular a ballad as " Home, 
sweet Home," among all the t)fficers and soldiers. 

The Austrians began the campaign by crossing the 
Ticino, and penetrating to the line of the Sesia, with at 
least 130,000 men. Little or no fighting took place be- 
tween them and the Sardinians. The latter drew a line 
of defence along the Dora-Baltia, and awaited the arrival 



334 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

of the Frencli. As soon as the French had arrived in 
sufficient numbers to justify an advance, they gradually 
threw forward their 'columns. The arrival of the Emperor 
at Alessandria, on the 15th of May, was the signal for in- 
creased activity. 

The first engagement of any importance was that of 
Montebello. It occurred between General Forey's Division, 
belonging to Baraguay D'Hilliers' Corps d'Arm^e, and 
part of Count Stadion's Corps d'Armde. The location of 
the battle was Montebello. Both parties claimed the vic- 
tory ; but subsequent events show clearly that the advan- 
tage was with the French. 

General Beuret, a young and active Chef de Brigade, fell 
here. He evinced great coolness and gallantry whilst 
living. He had graduated in that school of trial through 
which all the distinguished French officers have passed, the 
Algerian army. He was in the prime of life, and was an 
officer of talent. The Empress has written an autograph 
letter of condolence to his widow. 

The battle of Montebello was fought on the 20th of May. 
The French acknowledge a loss of 700 ; the Austrians 
place theirs at 1300 killed and wounded. 

The battle of Palestro, the next important preliminary 
engagement, was fought on the 30th of May. This time 
the victory was decidedly with the Franco-Sardinian army. 
Eight pieces of cannon and 4,000 prisoners rewarded the 
Allied army for their sanguinary eiforts. This battle was 
a series of obstinate combats. Twice the Austrians re- 
turned to the assault, but the Zouaves and the Sardinians, 



ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 335 

under Cialdini, encouraged by the hot valor of Victor 
Emanuel, fiercely hurled them back. 

Cialdini, who, next to Victor Emanuel, is the hero of 
this fight, is a Sardinian General of Division. He is a 
perfect paladin. He has sought war apparently for the 
pleasurable excitement it imparts. Modena is his native 
country. During the long war betw^een the Conservatives 
and the Liberals of Spain, he fought on the side of the 
latter. He began life a Lieutenant, and attained the rank 
of Colonel and the order of " Isabella the Catholic" from 
the hands of the Spanish Queen herself. 

In 1848 he served with distinction under Charles Albert, 
and was raised to the command of a brigade by him. 
Victor Emanuel conferred upon him the rank of General 
of Division for his gallantry at- the passage of the Tcher- 
naya, in 1855. His recent display, not only of courage 
but of high fitness for command, will raise him to a still 
greater rank. 

Garibaldi, with that brilliant rapidity which marks his 
operations in the field, had in the meantime crossed the 
frontiers of Lombardy, and skirting round the Southern 
end of Lago Maggiore, took Varese, roused the population 
of the Valteline, entered Como and Lecco, beat back 
D' Urban, and turned the Austrian right wing completely 
back upon the Austrian centre. He suffered a momentary 
check, but his gallant volunteers, unsupported, again beat 
the enemy, and at last accounts were advancing upon Monza, 
a large town ten miles north of Milan. His army, it is sup- 
posed, has been SAVollen from the 4,000 of OJiasseurs des 
Alps, of which it was originally composed, to fully 10,000 
men. 



386 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

The last great battle at Magenta is the bloodiest of 
them all. The Austrians, having the advantage of supe- 
rior numbers, were again defeated with great loss. They 
have retreated South-Eastward upon Cremona, having 
evacuated Milan, according to the orders of General 
Gjulai. 

The Imperial Guard, with the Emperor in its centre, 
seems to have borne the first shock of the enemy, far 
superior to them in numbers. General McMahon came 
up at an opportune moment to their relief, broke through 
the Austrian centre, whilst Canrobert turned their flanks, 
and routed them. But the Austrians, with their character- 
istic obstinacy, sought again and again " to wring victory 
from the brow of defeat." Again and again were they 
unsuccessful. 

The following is a description of the locality where the 
battle was fought: 

" Magenta, which will henceforth become illustrious in 
story, is a small town of about 6,000 inhabitants, situ- 
ated near Naviglio-Grande. It is the first stage on the 
road to Milan from Novara by Bufialora. Three roads 
lead from Novara to the bank of the Ticino. The first 
and most direct passes by Cameri, and ends at the bridge 
of Buflfalora; the second, more to the North, passes 
through Galliate, and descends to the river nearly opposite 
the village of Turbigo ; and the third, still more to the 
North, passes through Cameri and Piccheton, and by a 
curve joins the Ticino at some distance from the Galliate 
road." 

The French have paid dearly for their victory, in the 



ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1869. 337 

loss of men and officers. Both Austrians and French 
seem to have suffered severely among their officers of 
rank. The most distinguished among the French Gen- 
erals who have been killed was General Espinasse. 

Charles Marie Espinasse was born at Saissac, in April, 
1815, and entered the Military School of St. Cyr in 1833. 
He made his first campaigns in Algiers, where, in 1845, 
he had command of the Zouaves. Whilst in command of 
the 42d Regiment of the line, in 1848, he was sent to 
Rome. In 1851 he took an active part in quelling the 
emeutes of Paris which followed the coup d'etdt, and in 
the following year became Aid-de-camp to the Emperor. 
He commanded in the Crimean war a brigade of the First 
Division of the French army, and was unfortunate in an 
exploring party in the Dobrutscha. To add to his misfor- 
tunes he was attacked by the cholera, which decimated 
the ranks of his soldiers. Obliged to return to France to 
establish his health, he remained there until the following 
spring, when he returned to the East and distinguished 
himself at Tchernaya and the Malakoff. In 1855 Espin- 
asse was made General of Division, and received the 
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. 

In the midst of the excitement caused by the attempt 

on the life of the Emperor, in January, 1858, he took the 

place of M. Billault as Minister of the Interior, then 

called, in addition, " The Ministry of Public Safety." 

General Espinasse, in a diplomatic circular, explained to 

the Foreign Powers the reasons for thus establishing a 

Military Government. In June of the same year Gen- 

w 



338 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

eral Espinasse resigned his office. M. Delangle was his 
successor. 

The Emperor and King of Sardinia have entered 
Milan in triumph. Military operations are still actively 
continued. The town of Melegnano, rendered classic by 
the celebrated battle between the Swiss and Francis I., 
has again witnessed the shock of contending armies. 
Baraguay D'Hilliers seems to have enjoyed the opportu- 
nity of redeeming the fault he had committed at Monte- 
bello, of suffering himself to be surprised. He won a 
decided victory after a hard fight. 

Italy for centuries has been deemed dead. Italy, whose 
great men, no longer claiming to be Italians, had scat- 
tered their genius and their valor all over the world-^— Italy, 
that Metternich, in contemptuous raillery, had called a 
mere "geographical designation," and that Lamartine had 
stigmatized as the " sepulchre of the past," — Italy has, at 
the sound of the war clarion, arisen into life and strength. 

That Austria will be driven back to within her natural 
limits is probable. When this is effected, what next? 
Treaties and conquests, and voluntary submissions will 
again probably subdivide Italy, and leave her to be governed 
by a set of lenient, constitutional and progressive govern- 
ments. All would seem to promise well. When the war 
is ended — when, followed by shouts of friendship and 
victory that shall echo to the very Alps, the foreign 
legions shall pass that boundary, leaving Italy free from 
all invaders, there will yet remain the bitterest enemies, 
the most difficult to conquer, within her bosom, — the 
Italians themselves. To drive forth one common oppres- 



ITALY AND THE WAR OP 1859. 339 

sor, the inhabitants of the Italian States have remem- 
bered only that they were Italians, children of that 
country which their own poet, Silvia Pellico, has charac- 
terized for all as "il piu gentile terren non sei di quanti 
scaldi il sole? D'ogni bell'arte non sei madre, o Italia 
Polve d'eroi non e la polve tua?" 

"The fairest land warmed by the eternal sun, mother of 
all the divine arts, is Italy. The dust of her soil on which 
we tread, is the ashes of heroes." 

But when all the glorious excitement of conquest shall 
be over, when the politics and interest of Italy shall as- 
sume a domestic aspect, will not the great struggle then 
begin ? Will the Italian of Milan, — the Italian of Rome, — 
the Italian of Venice, — the Italian of Naples, — the Ita- 
lian of Florence be content with one rule and one govern- 
ment ? Where are the elements of union and sympathy ? 
Not in character ; for the people of each of these divisions 
are as distinct in habits, tastes and peculiarities, as different 
nations. Not in language; for each speaks a different 
one ; — one that the other cannot understand. Nor is the 
difference of language limited by these great divisions : 
every little town has its dialect. Como, at a distance of 
twenty miles, does not speak Milanese ; nor do the people 
of Bergamo or Brescia, speak the Venetian Patois, which 
is a language in itself, any more than they do the dialects 
of Lombardy. 

Tuscan, it is true, is the written language, but the 
masses ignore it, for education has made little progress, 
even in classes far removed from the lower. It cannot be 
denied by those who know Italy, that not only each State 
but each little town has a petty hatred of its neighbor. 



340 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

When can the Italians govern themselves ? Have they, 
after long years of inaction, administrative qualities? 
Has Italy produced, among the champions of its freedom, 
one man of practical talent ? 

The chivalrous heroism of Garibaldi will not make a 
legislator ; the high-flown Republic of Mazzini, is simply 
impossible. Romantic, high-sounding and eloquent are the 
proclamations of the various Provisional Governments of 
1848, but that is all — words, not ideas — poetry, but not 
common sense — the language for a Utopian Republic, not 
for the government of a people full of the necessities, pas- 
sions, vices and weaknesses of common life. 

"Italia fara da se," — " Italy will exist by her own pow- 
er," is another of those phrases which have been the 
watchwords leading to one great effort only, and that has 
been followed by supineness and discouragement. 

Yet with all these faults — the faults engendered by 
long despotic rule, by a rule which left them in ignor- 
ance, which compelled them to idleness — the Italians 
are a great and noble people. Generous, simple-mind- 
ed, endowed with brilliant imaginations, brave, gay and 
spirited — they give to history the example of a courageous 
and dignified resignation ; concealing their undying love for 
freedom under silence and apparent indifference. In the 
hour of struggle, neither bravery nor sacrifice have been 
wanting. Will the calm, strong, enduring virtues of 
submission to law, industry and political harmony be 
added to all these, and establish Italy in its high place 
(so long vacant) amongst the grandest and most ancient 
of European nations ? Time can alone reply. 



APPENDIX. 



BULLETINS OF THE BATTLES. 

BATTLE OF MONTEBELLO. 

General Forey's ofl&cial report of the Battle of Montebello, as for- 
warded by Marshal Baraguay d'Hilliers to the Emperor Napoleon, is as 
follows : — 

VoGHERA, May 20th, 1859, Midnight. 

'Monsieur le Marechal, — I have the honor to send you a report of 
the engagement of my division this day. 

"Having received information at half-past twelve (p.m.) that a strong 
Austrian cokimn, with artillery, had occupied Casteggio, and had driven 
out from Montebello the advanced posts of the Piedmontese cavalry, I 
immediately pushed forward to the outposts on the Montebello road with 
two battalions of the 74th, destined to relieve two battalions of the 84th, 
encamped on that road, in front of Voghera, on the Madura level. Mean- 
time the rest of my division was getting under arms ; a battery of artillery 
(6th of the 8th Regiment) led the way. 

"On reaching the bridge over the streamlet Fossagazzo, the extreme 
limit of our outposts, I ordered a section of artillery to be placed in bat- 
tery, supported on the right and on the left by two battalions of the 84th, 
their sharpshooters lining the banks of the stream. Meantime the enemy 
had pushed on from Montebello to Ginestrello, and, being informed that 
he was advancing against me in two columns, the one by the high road, 
the other by the railway road, I ordered the left battalion of the 74th to 
341 



342 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

cover the road to Cascina-Nuova, and the other battalion to take up a 
position on the right side of the road beliind the 84th. 

"This movement had scarcely been effected when a brisk fusillade 
opened along the whole line between our riflemen and those of the enemy, 
who was advancing upon us supporting his riflemen by heads of columns 
debouching from Ginestrello. The artillery opened its guns upon them 
with success ; the enemy replied, I then ordered my right to advance. 
The enemy withdrew before the impetuosity of our troops ; but, perceiving 
that I only had one battalion on the left of the road, a strong column 
was ordered to attack it. Thanks to the vigor and firmness of that bat- 
talion, commanded by Colonel Cambriels, and to some happy charges of 
the Piedmontese cavalry admirably led by General Sonnaz, the Austrians 
were driven back. At this moment General Blanchard, followed by the 
98th, and a battalion of the 91st (the two others had remained at Oriolo, 
where they had an encounter ), joined me, and received the order to 
relieve the battalion of the 74th, charged to defend the railway road, 
and to establish himself firmly at Cascina-Nuova. 

"Reassured on that side, I again advanced my right, and carried, not 
vathout a serious resistance, the position of Ginestrello. Judging then 
that by following with the main body of my infantry along the ridges 
and the high road, with my artillery protected by the Piedmontese ca- 
valry, I should more easily get possession of Montebello, I arranged my 
attacking columns as follows, under the orders of General Beuret: — 
The 17th battalion of Chasseurs, supported by the 84th and 74th placed 
en echelon, attacked the South side of Montebello, where the enemy 
had entrenched himself. A hand-to-hand combat then ensued in the 
streets of the village, which we had to carry house by house. It was 
during this combat that General Beuret was mortally wounded at my 
side. 

"After an obstinate resistance the Austrians were obliged to yield be- 
fore the impetuosity of our troops, and, although strongly entrenched 
in the churchyard, they were driven out of that last position at the point 
of the bayonet, amid reiterated shouts of 'Vive I'Empereur!' 

"It was now half-past six o'clock; I thought it prudent not to follow 
up the day's success any further, and I halted my troops behind the 
ground upon which the churchyard is situated, lining the ridge with 
four guns and a number of riflemen, who drove back the last Austrian 



APPENDIX. 343 

columns into Casteggio. Shortly afterwards I saw the Austrian columns 
evacuate Casteggio, leaving a rearguard there, and retired by the road 
of Casatisma. 

"I do not know as yet the exact amount of our loss. It is consider- 
able, especially in superior officers, who did not spare themselves. I 
calculate it approximatively at from 600 to 700 men killed or wounded. 
The loss of the enemy must have been considerable, to judge by the 
number of killed found, especially in the village of Montebello. We 
have taken about 200 prisoners, among whom is a Colonel and other 
officers. Some powder-wagons have also fallen into our hands. 

"As regards myself, M. le Marechal, I am happy that my division 
has been the first engaged with the enemy. This glorious 'baptism,' 
which recalls one of the noblest names in the Empire, will, I trust, mark 
one of those stages mentioned in the order of the day of the Emperor. 

" P. S. From information I have received from all quarters, the strength 
of the enemy could not be under from 15,000 to 18,000 men. 

HOW GENERAL BEURET WAS KILLED. 

A letter-writer says: "General Beuret, in attempting to rally his 
men, moved from the rear, which is the place assigned on such occasions 
to field officers, to the front, and was leading his men up the slope a 
second time when he was shot right between the eyes, and never moved 
afterward. The men fell back in disorder, upon which General Forey, 
with more gallantry than discretion, rushed to the front and took Beuret's 
place : one shot shivered his scabbard and struck his leg, and another 
tore ofi" part of his thick epaulet. Had the Austrians then made a sally 
they could easily have destroyed or captured the whole of the assailants ; 
but at that lucky moment a reinforcement came up, and after a stout 
contest the churchyard was cleared, and all in it who were not killed, 
wounded, or prisoners fell back on their main body.' 

COUNT GYULAl'S OFFICIAL REPORT. 

The following is Count Gyulai's official report of the battle of Monte- 
bello, addressed to the Emperor : 



S44 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

"Headquarters, Garlasco, May 23, 1859. 

"YotTR Majesty: I hasten humbly to address to your Majesty a 
report of the first great combat which the troops of your Majesty have 
sustained in the present war. As has already been shown by the incom- 
plete reports which serve as elements for this one, all the detachments 
of the brave army engaged in the fight gave brilliant proofs of courage 
and firmness. 

" As I already announced, on the 19th of the present month, by tele- 
graph, to your Majesty's First Adjutant-General, I ordered, on the 20th, 
a grand reconnoisance on the right bank of the Po, because the infor- 
mation I received from the outposts, established along the Sesia and the 
Po, led to the belief that the enemy, in strong force, projected a move- 
ment against Piacenza, by Voghera. 

"With this object, three brigades of the 5th corps d'armee were ad- 
vanced, on the night of the 10th, from Pavia toward the tetu-du-pont of 
Vaccarizza, where Boer's brigade, belonging to the 8th Corps, was already 
stationed. 

*' For this expedition I gave the command of the 5th Corps to Lieuten- 
ant-Field Marshal Urban, who had previously examined the ground 
between Stradella, Vaccarizza, and Voghera, and who was stationed 
with a brigade of the 9th Corps (Major-General Braum) and one of his 
own reserve divisions (Major-GeneralSchaflFgottsche) between the tete-du- 
pont of Vaccarizza and Broni. 

"The expedition, commanded by Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Count 
Stadion, consisted, then, of Paumgarteu's division (brigades Gaal, Bils, 
and Prince of Hesse) of the 5th Corps ; Braum of the 9th ; and two bat- 
talions of Boer's brigade of the 8th Corps, as also of the troops of the 
garrison of Piacenza (Hesse Regiment) instead of the detachment of 
Schaffgottsche's brigade, left behind. 

'•Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Stadion commenced his movement in ad- 
vance on the morning of the 2nth, starting from the iete-du-pont. 

"Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Urban had advanced on the high road 
toward Casteggio, the 3d battalion of Chasseurs skirting the mountains. 
Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Paumgarten followed in the plain, with Bils's 
brigade marching on Casatima, and with Gaal's brigade on Robecco. 
His reserve (two and a half battalions strong) and the artillery train 
advanced toward Barbiancllo. The Prince of Hesse's brigade formed 



APPENDIX. 345 

the right wing, and marched on Branduzzoz, passing through Verrua. 
Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Stadion's orders were, that after this move- 
ment, which ought to be completed at 11 o'clock, the attack should take 
place at noon, Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Urban was to carry Casteggio 
and Montebello, so as to have a basis to threaten Voghera, and thus 
force the enemy to display his strength. Major-General Gaal was to 
follow Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Urban as a reserve. As soon as the 
enemy had hastily evacuated Montebello, Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Ur- 
ban pushed on to Genestrello, where he found the enemy in superior 
force, and encountered a sanguinary defence, which, however, the brave 
Jagers of the 8th and 4th battalions of the regiments of Hesse and Dom 
Miguel bravely overcame, and, despite considerable loss, took possession 
of the heights and Place of Genestrello. 

" The enemy, however, soon displayed a superior force, which wag 
continually increased by arrivals by the railway, so that Lieutenant- 
Field-Marshal Urban's and Gaal's brigades which had come up to his 
assistance, were compelled, after great loss, but heroic fighting, to fall 
back on Montebello. Meantime, Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Stadion had 
up brought Bils's brigade and Hesse's brigade closer to the right wing 
of the line of battle. The enemy now displayed an overwhelming force 
against Major-General Gaal and General Braum, with one battalion 
of Hesse and one battalion of Rossbach. After an obstinate fight, 
Montebello was evacuated. The enemy, who had suffered considerably, 
was kept in check by the good appearance of our troops, and by the 
position taken by Brigadier Bils's reserve, and made no pursuit. The 
corps, scarcely molested in Casteggio, reached the tete-du-pont at night- 
fall, and on the 21st halted on the other bank of the Po. 

"According to the reports, which are not yet complete, the following 
troops were engaged at Genestrello, under Lieutenant-Field-Marshal 
Urban : The 3d battallion of Jagers, the 3d battallion of Dom Miguel, 
two battalions of Bossbach, one Grenadier battalion of Hesse, two 6- 
pounders, four 12-pounders of the 8th Regiment, and a division of Hal- 
ler's Hussars. It was here the fight was most sanguinary and the 
greatest loss incurred, the enemy being three times our strength. At 
Montebello the troops engaged were : Two and a half companies of Ross- 
bach, one battalion Grenadiers ; 2d battalion of Hesse's Infantry ; two 
battalions Arch Duke Charles' Infantry ; one battalion Granger ; one 



346 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

squadron Haller's Hussars ; four 6-pounders, and two 12-pounderg. The 
ti-oops engaged at Genestrello, when they retreated, came upon a superior 
force of the enemy, and had to sustain a second encounter. 

" The Prince of Hessse, who commanded the Regiment Culoz (Tran- 
sylvanians), a battalion of Zobel (recruits of Arad, in Hungary), and 
three squadrons of Sicily Lancers, engaged the enemy at Calcababbio (a 
little to the west of Casatisma) and Casove de Lansi. Several times 
during the action our infantry attacked the enemy's cavalry with the 
bayonet, and threw them into disorder. It also repeatedly happened 
that the troops, when advancing to the attack, reserved their fire until 
they were within thirty paces of the enemy. The Hussars and Lancers 
made the most dexterous use of their different weapons. As our artil- 
lery advanced quite close to the enemy its effect was terrible {furchter- 
lich). Very few of our men were wounded by the cannon of the enemy, 
who fired over their heads. The enemy's infantry fired well. The re- 
port relative to his cavalry is less favorable. It was not equal to our 
Hussars and Lancers, and avoided every serious attack. 

" As the thunder of the cannon had brought Lieutenant-General Cren- 
neville from Broni, where he was with a part of the Brigade Fehlmayer, 
toward Casteggio, Lieutenant-General Stadion posted him at Santa 
Giulietta, in order that he might, if necessary, support the Brigade Bils, 
which had to cover the retreat. As there was no pursuit. General Cren- 
neville returned in the evening to Stradella. During the advance and 
retreat. General Price Yon Hesse effectually protected the right flank of 
the corps. 

" It appears that we were opposed to the whole corps d'armee of Bara- 
guay d'Hillers and a Piedmontese brigade. According to the reports 
received, the French had twelve regiments of the line, some battalions 
of Chasseurs, and one regiment of cavalry in action ; and the Sardinians 
one brigade and the cavalry regiment 'Novara.' The reserves, which 
were very powerful, were continually re-enforced. Field-Marshal-Lieu- 
tenant Stadion estimates the force of the enemy at 40,000 men at least. 
The sacrifice of life was great, but the information acquired by the re- 
connoissance is extremely satisfactory. I am still in expectation of the 
detailed reports. Count Stadion speaks highly of the bravei-y of all the 
troops engaged. When the detailed reports are sent in, I will make 
known to your Majesty the names of the persons who particularly dis- 
tinguished themselves. 



APPENDIX. 847 

"Unfortunately, the sacrifice of life during this glorious battle was 
very great. 600 wounded men, 20 of whom are officers, have been 
brought to Pavia. Major Buttner, of the General Staif, who was on a 
special mission at Vdccarizza, and took part in the expedition, and Major 
Cantes, of the 3d Jager Battalion, were killed. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Spielberger, and Major Piers, of the 'Archduke Charles,' are probably 
dead, as they fell wounded on the field of battle. 

" I am proud to be able to say, that the troops have, by their spirit 
and courage, proved that they are worthy of your Majesty's favor, and 
any expression of satisfaction on the part of their illustrious Emperor 
and Commander will be an incentive to glorious deeds." 

[To the foregoing is annexed a list of the killed, wounded, and missing, 
but it will suffice to say, that 294 men, and 20 horses were killed, 718 
men and 10 horses wounded, and 283 men missing. By an official tele- 
gram of the 25th instant, from Pavia, we learn that 650 wounded private 
soldiers, and 27 officers, are in the hospitals there. Twenty-four of 
their officers, and 367 of their men, are dangerously wounded.] 

GAKIBALDl'S DESCENT ON LOMBARDY. 

On the 25th of May, Garibaldi, who with his Chasseurs of the Alps 
and some other troops, in all perhaps 5000 men, had passed round the 
extreme right of the Austrians, crossed the Ticino and marched upon 
Varese, between Lake Maggiore and the Lake of Como, and took posses- 
sion of that town. On the 26th he defeated an Austrian detachment 
which attacked him, followed up his victory with great vigor, and again, 
on the 27th, defeated the same detachment (re-enforced by the garrison 
of Como), and entered that town the same night. The flying corps of 
General Urban marched against him, and actually drove him into the 
mountains ; but later dispatches, reported that he had come back and 
surprised the Austrians and retaken Varese. His success produced an 
insurrection in the towns on the Lake of Como and in the Valtelline or 
Upper Valley of the Adda, a mountain district, which in 1848 showed 
more insurrectionary energy than the towns of the Lombard plain. The 
steamers on the Lake of Como are in the hands of the insurgents, and 
800 men from the Valtelline had joined Garibaldi. 

The correspondence of the London Daily News, adds these details: — 



848 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

"Arona, May 80th. Anxious to gain exact information concerning 
General Garibaldis wonderful exploits, I left Alessandria for this place, 
where I arrived this morning. On my reaching Arona I found that the 
Provisional Extraordinary Commissary had been arrested by order of 
Signor Tecchio" who was so kind to me at A^ercelli. It seems that the 
above-mentioned magistrate, being anything but courageous, had bolted 
at the first news of Austrian invasion. The only excuse he made on his 
return was that courage was a gift which had not been granted to him. 
Signor Tecchio did not find the excuse good enough, and sent him to 
prison where he is kept in strict confinement. 

"One of the Secretaries of Count Cavour, Signor La Farina, a Sicilian 
of great talent, has been sent here to act as Extraordinary Commissary, 
not only for Arona, but with full powers for the whole of this important 
Province. This gentleman, who in former times was one of the most 
sanguine adherents of Mazzini, is a man of rare energy, and he has set 
to work with the determination of carrying on the revolution in the 
whole of the occupied Lombardo-Provinces. The alarm bells ring still 
in all the communes of the Varesotto, Tramezzo, Como and Lecco dis- 
tricts. The volunteers are poui'ing in from every village and hamlet 
into Garibaldi's camp, which has also been strengthened by a Pied- 
montese brigade and two batteries of field artillery. You see that the 
insurrection is gaining ground in Upper Lombardy. At the first appear- 
ance of our braves, all the civil authorities of Como and Lecco have recog- 
nized the Government of King Victor Emanuel, which in those towns is 
now represented by Count Visconti Yenosta, a young nobleman from 
Valtellina, of great determination. His spirited proclamations have 
roused the enthusiasm of country folks and citizens, who have hastened 
to the scene of action with an ardor never witnessed in 1848. Money, 
so much wanted in these times, is pouring into Garibaldi's military 
treasury, together with gold necklaces and other valuable trinkets from 
fair Lombard ladies. The sum thus collected in two days has reached 
2,0()(),000f. 

" The telegraph wires will, no doubt, have informed you that Como was 
occupied on Saturday last, after a hard fight of two hours at San Fermo 
and Canierlata. This last-mentioned position is to be considered as the 
key of the picturesque barrier of Como, for its elevated ground enables 
a small body of men to oppose a long resistance even to an army of 



APPENDIX. 349 

15,000 strong. The positions were carried at the point of the bayonet, 
for our Cacciatori delle Alpi could not fire their muskets, so much in- 
ferior in range to those of the enemy. It was a hard and bloody fight, 
which may, without exaggeration, be compared to the struggles of old^ 
when Roman and Cathaginian legions met together. 

"Every one here asks how Garibaldi could have been ordered or 
allowed to venture on so daring a movement by himself. The truth is that 
he was instructed to move in the direction of Varese by slow marches, 
keeping himself in constant communifation with Cialdini's division, to 
which he belongs. By the necessity of strategical combination. Gen- 
eral Cialdini was obliged to march to and fro from Vercelli and Strop- 
piana, guarding the right bank of the Upper Sesia, as far as Gattinara. 
The necessary result of this constant marching and countermarching 
was that of retarding the projects of Garibaldi. He moved slowly for 
two days, but he could not stand it any longer, and hastening from Ro- 
magnana to the headquarters of the King, he begged him to observe that 
he did not nor could not understand the scientific principles of a regular 
war, and that he wished to be left to his daring inspiration. Victor 
Emanuel saw directly that it was no use to keep such a bird in the cage 
of strategic rules, and, letting him loose, said: 'Go where you like, do 
what you like. I have only one regret — that of not being able to follow 
you.' In five hours he was at' the head of his daring soldiers. You 
know the rest. It is true that Garibaldi's Cacciatori delle Alpi bought 
dearly their three-fold victory over the Austrians. Captain Decristoforis 
is dead. He was one of the noblest patriots Italy had among her sons. 
Two years ago he settled in England and kept a first-rate military school 
at Putney. More than one of our English officers had been prepared by 
him for Woolwich examinations, and I have no doubt they will feel deeply 
the loss of their worthy master. Captain Bedott and Leiutenants Ferrini, 
Cartigliari and Battaglia, also fell during the action of San Ferino. 
Captain Frigerio was badly wounded, together with sixty of his men. 
On the whole, the loss sustained by Garibaldi is about 125 killed and 
wounded — a very small one if we consider the success obtained by him. 
The deeds he has achieved in so short a time have gained him the ad- 
miration not only of the Piedmontese, but, what is almost incredible, 
even that of the French army. Before leaving Turin I was told that 
the Emperor himself sent one of his orderly officers to Garibaldi's head- 



350 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

quarters, to congratulate him on the wonderful success of his small band 
of heroes. This Imperial message deserves more praise when we con- 
sider that Garibaldi's first proclamation did not say a word about the 
French army." 

The legion with which Garibaldi drove the Austrians from Northern 
Lombardy is chiefly composed of his old comrades in arms, recruited by 
young men of high character. He knows the value of good men, and 
will not accept any recruit who cannot bring excellent references. A 
very large number of Italian noblemen are serving under his orders. 

This legion is called Chasseurs des Alpes. They consist of two fine 
regiments, of 2,000 men each, and a squadron of Guides, who serve as 
a staflF and make reconnoissances. The latter are almost universally 
mounted at their own expense. The Chasseurs wear a green tunic with 
white trimming over the shoulders. The corps of Guides wear a gray 
jacket with black trimming, in the hussar fashion, large trowsers of the 
same color, a sabre, and a Colt's revolver. They are always ahead on 
their good chargers, and are much feared by Austrian sharp-shooters 
and Croat marauders. 

THE BATTLE OF PALESTRO. 

The Sardinian Government has issued the following official bulletins : 

"Turin, May 31. 

"A fresh victory was gained' by our troops at 7 o'clock this morning. 
25,000 Austrians endeavored to retake Palestro. The King, command- 
ing the 4th Division in person, and General Cialdini, at the head of the 
8d Regiment of Zouaves, resisted the attack for a considerable time, 
and then, after having successfully assumed the offensive, pursued the 
enemy, taking 1000 prisoners, and capturing eight cannon, five of which 
were taken by the Zouaves. Four hundred Austrians were drowned, 
in a canal, during the combat at Palestro." 

The Turin Gazette, June 1, contains the following proclamation to the 
troops : 

"From the Principal Headquarters at Torrione, 30th of May, 1859. 

" Soldiers ! Our first battle has marked om* first victory. Your heroic 
courage, the admirable order of your ranks, the daring and sagacity 
of the leaders, have triumphed to-day at Palestro, at Vinzarrio, at 
Casalino. 



APPENDIX. 351 

''After an obstinate defence, the enemy, repeatedly attacked, aban- 
doned to you his strong positions. The campaign could not open under 
happier auspices. 

"To-day's triumph is to us a sure pledge that you have in reserve 
other victories for the glory of your King and for the fame of the valiant 
Piedmontese army. 

" Soldiers ! Your country, exulting, expresses to you its gratitude 
by my voice, and, proud of our battles, already points out to history the 
names of its heroic sons, who, for the second time, on the 30th day of 
May, have valiantly fought for it. 

"Victor Emanuel." 

ADDITIONAL DETAILS. 

On May 30th, King Victor Emanuel, at the head of the Fourth Divi- 
sion of the allied army, crossed the Sesia, near Vercelli, in the face 
of the enemy. Vercelli, Novara, and Mortara, form an equilateral 
triangle, each side being about fifteen miles in length ; and it should be 
observed that two of the great roads from Milan, passing through No- 
vara and Mortara, which are about ten miles west of the banks of the 
Ticino, unite at Vercelli. The Austrians have, from the beginning, kept 
a large force — not less than 50,000 men — at Novara and Mortara, be- 
cause it is pretty clear that, if they are compelled to abandon these 
towns, they must cross the Ticino. It was natural, therefore, that they 
should watch, with the utmost jealousy, any attempt of the Sardinians 
to approach either of these places, and, accordingly they sent out fre- 
quent and powerful reconnoissances from Novara and Mortara towards 
the Sesia, in order to ascertain the movements of their enemy. Not 
satisfied with this, the Austrians seem to have fortified the villages of 
Palestro, Casaline, and Vinzaglio, situated within the angle formed by 
the road between Vercelli and Novara, and that between Vercelli and 
Mortara, for when the King crossed with Cialdini's Division, he found 
the enemy entrenched, and only carried their position, after an obstinate 
struggle, at the point of the bayonet. Although the whole extent of the 
losses on either side is yet unknown, still the Sardinians took two guns 
and some prisoners. That night the King slept at Torriene, amongst 
his troops, as they lay encamped on the left bank of the Sesia. Vercelli 



852 ITALY A^D THE WAR OF 1859. 

was illuminated, to celebrate the victory, and the French Emperor, hav- 
ing transferred his headquarters from Alessandria to Casale — not an 
hour's journey by railway fx-om Vercelli — walked through the streets 
of the rejoicing city. 

But the battle was not yet over. The Austrian officers determined to 
renew the combat. On Tuesday morning, therefore, the King, before 
he had time very materially to strengthen his position, was attacked by 
an Austrian corps d'armee of 25,000 men. The King himself, at the head 
of the Fourth Division, aided by the Third Regiment of Zouaves, for a 
time maintained a defensive attitude, but presently assuming the oflFen- 
sive, rushed upon the enemy, defeated them, with the loss of eight guns 
and lOoO prisoners. Amongst the troops who fought, the Zouaves, ac- 
cording to the account in the Moniteur, did great things. In the face of 
a battery of eight guns, they crossed a canal, climbed a steep height, 
drove 400 Austrians, at the point of the bayonet, into the canal, and 
carried away six guns. But, as at Montebello so at Palestro, the Sar- 
dinians bore the brunt of the contest. 

It was now Tuesday morning, but the Austrians, though repulsed, at 
once arranged another attack for the same evening. Nor is it difficult 
to understand the grounds of such a resolution. Unless the numbers of 
the Austrian troops which crossed the Ticino has been grossly exagger- 
ated, it seems clear that those between Novara and Mortara ought far to 
outnumber a single division. The Austrians, therefore, might reason- 
ably expect to annihilate the King, weakened as he was by two severe 
combats, before he could be reinforced. On the other hand, the position 
of the King was such, that if he felt himself strong enough (as he cer- 
tainly would be after being reinforced) he might fall upon the Austrian 
troops at Novara before they could be joined by those at Mortara, and so 
open one of the great roads across the Ticino ; or he might fall upon the 
troops at Mortara, break the Austrian line, open the other great road to 
the Ticino, and then advance against the Austrian right wing, isolated 
as it would thus be, and drive it back to the Ticino. Indeed, even if 
there were no apprehension of being attacked by overwhelming numbers 
on one point of the line, it is not only harassing, but even dangerous, to 
have a great body of troops within six or seven miles of the enemy, more 
especially if, in case of defeat, it would be necessary to withdraw across 
a broad river like the Ticino. The troops can never be at rest, and in 



APPENDIX. 353 

case of a reverse, the probability is that a great portion of the baggage 
must be lost or destroyed. Whatever may have been the reasons upon 
which the Austrians acted, certain it is, that on the same Tuesday even- 
ing, about six o'clock, they endeavored to dislodge the King from his 
position at Palestro. But again they were repulsed by Cialdini, the 
Zouaves, and the Sardinian cavalry. The King displayed, according to 
his wont, that chivalrous and almost reckless courage for which, through 
life, he has been so famous, and which has rendered him the idol of his 
people. 

THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA. — THE FRENCH OFFICAL EEPORT. 

From the Paris Moniteur, June 10th. 

Headquarters of San Martino, June 5th. 

"The French army, assembled around Alessandria, had before it 
great obstacles to overcome. If it had marched on Piacenza, it would 
have had to lay siege to that place, and to open for itself, by main force, 
the passage of the Po, which at this spot is not less than 900 metres 
wide, and this most dif&cult operation was to be executed in the presence 
of an enemy's army of more than 200,000 men. 

"If the Emperor crossed the 'river at Valentia, he would find the en- 
emy concentrated on the left bank at Mortara, and he could not attack 
him in this position unless by separate columns n.^noeuvering in the 
midst of a country intersected by canals and rice grounds. There was, 
therefore, on both sides an almost insurmountable obstacle ; the Em- 
peror resolved to turn it, and he deceived the Austrians by concentrating 
his army on the right, and causing it to occupy Casteggio, and even 
Bobbio on the Trebia. 

"On the 31st of May, the army received the order to march to the 
left, and crossed the Po at Casale, the bridge of which had remained in 
our possession. It immediately took the Vercelli road, where the pas- 
sage of the Sesia was effected to protect and cover our rapid march on 
Novara. The efforts of the army were directed to the right on Bobbio; 
and two combats, glorious for the Sardinian troops, fought on this side, 
had also the effect of inducing the enemy to believe that we were march- 
ing on Mortara. But during this time the French army had proceeded 

X 



354 ■ ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

towards Novara, and had taken up there a position on the same ground 
where the King Charles Albert had fought ten years before. There it 
could make head against the enemy should he make his appearance. 

"Thus this bold march had been protected by 100,000 men encamped 
on our right flank at Olengo in front of Novara. Under these circum- 
stances, it was therefore to the reserve that the Emperor was to confide 
the execution of the movement that took place in the rear of the line of 
battle. 

"On the 2d of June a division of the Imperial Guard was directed to 
Turbigo on the Ticino, and meeting with no resistance there it threw 
across three bridges. 

" The Emperor, having collected notices that agreed in showing him 
that the enemy was retiring on the left bank of the river, caused the 
Ticino to be passed at this spot by the army corps of General McMahon, 
followed next day by a division of the Sardinian army. 

"Hardly had our troops taken possession on the Lombard bank when 
they were attacked by an Austrian corps sent from Milan by the rail- 
way. They repulsed it victoriously under the eyes of the Emperor. 

"On the same day, June 2d, the division of Espinasse having ad- 
vanced by the Novara road towards Milan as far as Trecate, whence it 
threatened the bridge-head of Buffalora, the enemy evacuated precipit- 
ously the entrenchments he had thrown up on this point, and fell back 
on the left bank, after blowing up the stone bridge crossing the river at 
this spot. Nevertheless the effect of his mining chambers was not com- 
plete, and the two arches he had intended to destroy having merely 
subsided without falling to pieces, the thoroughfare was not interrupted. 

"The day of the 4th had been fixed upon by the Emperor for taking 
definitive possession of the left bank of the Ticino. The army corps of 
General McMahon, reinforced by the voltigeur division of the Imperial 
Guard, and followed by the whole army of the King of Sardinia, was 
to proceed from Turbigo to Buffalora and Magenta, whilst the Grenadier 
division of the Imperial Guard would seize the bridge-head of Buffalora 
on the left bank, and the army corps of Marshal Canrobert would ad- 
vance on the right bank, to pass the Ticino at the same point. The 
execution of this plan of operations was disturbed by some of those 
incidents that in warfare must be taken into account. The lOng's army 
was retarded in its passage of the river, and only one of its divisions 
could follow, at a distance, the corps of General McMahon. 



APPENDIX. 355 

"The march of the Espinasse division also met with delays, and on 
the other hand when the corps of Marshal Canrobert left Novara to re- 
join the Emperor, who had personally gone to the bridge-head of Buffa- 
lora, this corps found the road so encumbered that it could only reach 
the Ticino quite late. 

"Such was the situation of things, and the Emperor was waiting, not 
without anxiety, for the signal of the arrival of General McMahon's 
corps at BuflFalora, when, about two o'clock, he heard on this side very 
heavy firing of small arms and artillery. 

"It was the moment to sustain it by marching on Magenta. The Em- 
peror immediately despatched WimpflFen's brigade against the formidable 
positions held by the Austrians in front of the bridge; the brigade of Cler 
followed the movement. The heights bordering the Naviglio (a large 
canal) and the village of BufFalora were promptly carried by the spirit of 
our troops; but they then found themselves confronting considerable 
masses, whom they could not drive back, and who arrested their pro- 
gress. 

" In the meantime. Marshal Canrobert's army corps did not appear, 
and on the other hand the cannonade and musketry fire that had 
signaled the arrival of General McMahon had completely ceased. Had 
the General's column been repulsed, and had the grenadier division of 
the Guard to sustain itself alone against the entire effort of the enemy ? 

"It is here the proper time for explaining the manoeuvre efi'ected by 
the Austrians. When they learned on the night of June 2d, that the 
French army had suprised the passage of the Ticino at Turbigo, they 
had rapidly sent across that river, at Vigevano, three of the army corps, 
which burnt the bridges behind them. On the morning of the 4th they 
went before the Emperor to the number of 125,000 men, and it was 
against these disproportionate forces that the Grenadier division of the 
guard, with whom was the Emperor, had singly to contend. 

"In these critical circumstances. General Regnaud de Saint Jean 
d'Angely gave proof of the utmost energy, as also did the Generals com- 
manding under his orders. The General of Division, Mellinet, had two 
horses killed under him. General Cler fell mortally wounded. General 
Wimpfi'en was wounded in the head. The Commanders Desme and 
Maudhay, of the Grenadiers, were killed. The Zouaves lost 200 men, 
and the Grenadiers sustained a loss no less considerable. 



356 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

"At length, after a struggle of four hours, during which Mellinet's 
division suffered "without flinching the attacks of the enemy, Picard's 
brigade, with Cani'obert at its head, arrived on the field of battle. 
Shortly after appeared Vinocq's division, from General Neil's corps, 
which the Emperor had sent for, and finally Eegnault's and Trocha's 
divisions of Marshal Canrobert's corps. 

''At the same time General McMahon's cannon were again heard in 
the distance. The General's corps, retarded in its march, and less 
numerous than it should have been, had advanced in two columns on 
Magenta and Buffalora. 

" The enemy having attempted to advance between these two columns, 
for the purpose of cutting them off. General McMahon had rallied the 
right, with the left towards Magenta, and this explains why the firing 
had ceased at the beginning of the action on the side at Buffalora. In 
fact, the Austrians, seeing themselves pressed on their front and left, 
had evacuated the village of Buffalora, and advanced with the greater 
part of their forces against General McMahon, in front of Magenta. 
The fortj fifth regiment of the line rushed intrepidly to attack the farm 
of Cascina Nuova, which is before the village, and which was defended 
by two Hungarian regiments. Fifteen hundred men of the enemy there 
laid down their arms, and the flag was taken from the dead body of 
the Colonel. 

" In the meantime, Motterouge's Division was pressed hard by con- 
siderable forces that threatened to separate it from Espinasse's division. 
General McMahon had drawn up in the second line the thirteen bat- 
talions of the Voltiguers of the Guard, under the command of the brave 
General Camou, who, advancing to the first line, sustained at the centre 
the efforts of the enemy, and enabled the Divisions of La Mottcrouge 
and Espinasse to resume vigorously the offensive. 

" At this moment of general attack, General Auger, commanding the 
artillery of the Second Corps, placed in battery, on the line of the rail- 
way, forty field-pieces, which, taking the Austrians, as they were de- 
filing in great disorder, in flank and athwart, made a frightful carnage 
amongst them. 

"The combat at Magenta was terrible. The enemy defended this 
village with obstinacy. On both sides it was felt that this was the key 
of the position. Our troops took it house by house, and put more tliaa 



APPENDIX. 357 

10,000 Austrians Tiors de combat. General McMahon made about 5000 
prisoners, among wliom were an entire regiment, the Second Chasseurs 
a Pied, commanded by Colonel Hauser. But the General's corps itself 
suffered much ; 1500 of his men were killed or wounded. In the attack 
on the village, General Espinasse and Lieutenant Froidefond fell mort- 
ally wounded. Like them. Colonel Drouhot, of the 65th of the line, and 
Colonel Chabriore, of the Second Foreign Regiment, fell at the head of 
their troops. 

"On the other side, the Divisions ofVinoy and Renault performed 
prodigies of valor, under the orders of Marshal Canrobert and General 
Niel. Vinoy's division, which left Novara in the morning, had only 
just arrived at Trecate, where it was to bivouac, when it was sent for 
by the Emperor. It advanced rapidly (a pas de course) as far as Pont 
di Magenta, driving the enemy from his positions, and taking more than 
1000 prisoners ; but, becoming engaged with superior forces, it sustained 
severe loss ; eleven of its officers were killed, and fifty wounded ; 650 
sub-officers and soldiers were put hors de combat. The 85th of the line 
especially suffered ; its commanding officer was killed fighting bravely 
at the head of his regiment, and the other superior officers were woiinded. 
General Martinprey was struck by a ball as he was leading his brigade. 

"The troops of Marshal Canrobert also sustained regretable loss. 
Colonel de Senneville, the chief of his staff, was killed at his side. 
Colonel Charlier, of the 90th, fell mortally wounded, struck by five balls, 
and several officers of Renault's division were placed hors de combat, 
while the village of Pont di Magenta was taken seven times in succes- 
sion. 

"Finally, about half-past eight in the evening, the French army re- 
mained master of the field of battle, and the enemy withdrew, leaving 
in our hands four guns, of which two were taken by the Grenadiers of 
the Guard, two flags, and seven thousand prisoners. The number of 
Austrians placed hors de combat may be estimated at about 20,000. On 
the field of battle 12,000 muskets, and 30,000 knapsacks, have been 
picked up. 

"The Austrian corps engaged against us were those of Clam-Gallas, 
Zobel, Schwartzenberg and Leichtenstein. Field-Marshal Gyulai com- 
manded in chief. 

" Thus, in five days after leaving Alessandi'ia, the Allied Army has 



358 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1859. 

delivered three combats, won a battle, cleared Piedmont of the Aus- 
trians, and opened the gates of Milan. Since the battle of Montebello, 
the Austrians have lost 25,000 men, killed or wounded, 10,000 prisoners, 
and 17 guns." 



AUSTRIAN ACCOUNT. 

The following telegram has been received at Vienna from Count Von 
Grunne, First Adjutant-General of the Emperor of Austria : 

" Vienna, Monday, June 6, 10 40 p.m. 

*' The battle fought in the neighborhood of Magenta, on the 4th 
instant, was exceedingly fierce and bloody, and lasted until dusk. The 
attack of the enemy, which was made in the forenoon, at Turbigo and 
Buffalora, was at first directed against two brigades of the 1st army 
corps, under Lieutenant-General Count Clam. The brigades in question 
were subsequently reinforced by three brigades of the 2d (Prince E. 
Leichtenstein's), and Reischach's division of the 7th (Baron Zobel's) 
army corps. In the afternoon of the 3d, Prince E. Schwartzenberg's 
army corps came into action, and the bridges of the BuflFalora and the 
village of Magenta were sometimes in the enemy's hands and sometimes 
in ours. 

" In the morning of the 5th, our left wing was again engaged in the 
neighborhood of Magenta, but detailed reports on the subject are still 
wanting. 

*' The enemy made no further progress [drang nicht welter vor), and 
our army took up a flank position {Flanken-Stcllung) between Abbiate 
Grasso and Binasco. The issue of the battle which was going on being 
doubtful. Count Gyulai gave orders that Milan should be completely 
evacuated. The 5th, Count Stadion's, and the 8th, Baron von Benedek's 
army corps, Avere at a considerable distance from the field of battle, and 
were not engaged. 

" Numerous French prisoners are in our hands. The loss on both 
sides is great, but exact official returns on ihe subject are still wanting. 
According to the preliminary reports, Lieutenant-General Baron Reis- 
chach, and Major-Generals von Burdina, von Dufield, and von Lebzel- 



ArPENDIX. 359 

tern, are wounded ; as are Colonel Hubatschek, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Stromfeld, and Major Merkl, of the regiment " Hartmann ;" Lieutenant- 
Colonel Heffer and Major Walter, of the regiment "King of the Bel- 
gians; and Major Morans, of the regiment "Count Wimpffen." Major 
Kronfeld, of "King of Prussia" hussars, was killed; and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Imbaissenitsh, and Major Haas, of the Second Banat Border 
Regiment, are missing." 



e^ 



M' 






0C\ 



■^nr\r! 



n 



r^i 



\^' >^' 






\^ii^ 






ml 



r^'rS'. 



^hh^'^, 





i 


^^5 

^'v^ 


»''?-> 
^'^ 
^:/^ 




^ 


R 


S 




















■ 1 ^ M 1 


^' 


Om 


HMW ^^^^I^B. i^hLi./ V V 


TT " 


1 'If 1 



n 






^wHBS 



An 



li 












R 



i?' 



^^^^|: 
o 



,aM 



:f\^r 






:^^ii' 



w 



p 



m. 



^ 



U 





mm 





h 



p 



'^ 



^^«^R 



i^^/^^Ii 



mm 



-Il^mj 






Oi^AW 



«aj8,P0M; 









•''*'^?;^ 















M' ^ 






^t 



w» 






WmM 


i. i^ii 


■W 


wa 


^'♦™ 


fmi- 


^^i»U^ 


UK|^^ 


•^^^. 


••'ti^^Ai^' 



m 



^m^ww^MM 



